Mail Order Melody (10 page)

*****

Sunday came altogether too soon for Eliza. She and Beulah spent hours in the kitchen with Beulah teaching her all the tips and tricks to cooking she'd learned over the years. They'd been raised by the same mother, but because Eliza had so many solos at church she'd gotten out of much of the housework to practice.

She happily introduced her sister to everyone she knew after
church. It took only a minute or two for her to realize that a line had formed for introductions, and women were conspicuously absent from the line. Calvin had been right. All of the men were interested in courting Beulah.

Eliza met their neighbor, Charles Hampton, for the first time that afternoon when he joined the line to meet Beulah.

"What are you doing this afternoon, Mrs. Morgan? I'd be happy to take you and your boys for a drive." The man looked at her earnestly, obviously hoping he would be the one chosen to drive with them that afternoon. She wondered if Charles would have made himself known to her sooner if he'd known she had a widowed sister who was in the market for a husband.

The boys were off playing in the churchyard with the other children, but every time a man expressed interest in her, Beulah
made certain to mention that she had two boys. Eliza was ready to laugh at the way each man made it very clear he didn't care if there were twelve children involved as long as he got a wife.

"I have no plans for the afternoon, Mr. Hampton. I'll see if my sister can spare me from the housework." Beulah looked over at Eliza, her expression devoid of emotion. Eliza couldn't tell whether she wanted to go with him or not.

Eliza grinned. "Of course I can! Charles Hampton is our closest neighbor. I'd love if you went for a drive with him this afternoon. He could show you the area." She wanted her sister as close as possible, and she couldn't be closer than next door. She knew she was being obvious, but at that moment she didn't care.

Beulah blushed knowing that it sounded like her sister was pushing her at Mr. Hampton. "I'd be happy to."

"What time is good for you, Mrs. Morgan?"

"
Any time
after two should be fine. That gives me time to help with the lunch dishes before the boys and I leave with you."

Charles smiled and nodded. "I'll be counting the minutes."

Eliza noticed that Beulah was watching her neighbor's bottom as he left the church. "I think lusting in church just compounds the sin."

Beulah pushed her sister a bit while blushing. "Behave
yourself."

"I've been very well behaved." Eliza caught Calvin's eye across the church and thought she'd done some of her own lusting in church, so she'd keep quiet.

Eliza questioned Calvin early Monday morning about the guard that was still always positioned outside the barn watching the house. "I'm safe. Beulah's here. Why is there still a guard?" She was going to go crazy if she wasn't allowed to roam freely soon. If she wanted to take a walk, Slater walked with her. If she wanted to go to town, Slater went with her. It was enough to make a woman mad.

Calvin shook his head. "We still don't know where the threat letters were coming from. Until we do, the guard will have to stay where he is." He hated that he couldn't give her the answer he knew she wanted, but he'd hate even more to find her hurt.

Eliza wrinkled her nose. "But Beulah's here, Sebastian's in jail, and we have Spot." Couldn't he see she finally felt safe?

Calvin looked at the puppy who was chasing his tail. "Spot's not going to be much help for at least another year." Why had he agreed to get her a puppy again? The little mutt was insane.

"I just won't sing, Calvin. We're going to be fine." How could he not see she needed him to change his mind?

"I feel safer with him there."

Eliza sighed. "Fine, but we're taking the boys to enroll them in school this morning."

"Slater will drive you."

"I need supplies as well. Is he going to drive me into town and carry my purchases?" She knew she was being unreasonable, but she hated being watched over so closely.

"Yes, he will." Calvin kissed her softly. "I know you don't like it, but until we hear back from Mr. Bigelow, you will be with a guard or with me at all times." He left the house leaving her to make a face at the door. Sometimes being childish was the only answer.

"What threat letters?" Beulah asked.

"Oh, I didn't know you were there," Eliza told her. She hadn't yet told the full truth about the threats made on her sister and nephews, because she felt like they were safe now that they were in Missouri. She wasn't singing, and she knew where her sister was at all times, so there was no reason for anyone to hurt her, was there?

"What threat letters?" Beulah made it clear she wasn't about to let the subject drop.

Eliza sighed. "Let's go into the parlor, and I'll explain." She led
her sister into the room that was almost never used and sat down on the love seat. When Beulah took the arm chair perpendicular to her, Eliza explained. "I was in Massachusetts when I got the first one. It was pressed into my hand as I was hurrying to the women's waiting room at the train station there. I never saw who gave it to me. It said if I didn't stop singing, you and the boys would be in danger." She hated to admit that her sister and her boys had been in danger because of her singing. She had felt guilty since the first letter.

Beulah's eyes widened. "Me? I thought the letters were threatening you."

"No. You and the boys. They knew where you were, because they gave me the name of your town in New York, so I decided to escape from Sebastian. I hated being on the road and wanted to get away from him anyway. So when I heard a woman saying she couldn't take the train to be a mail order bride, I jumped at the chance. I took her tickets and came out here to marry her groom, Calvin Simpson." She hated admitting she'd met Calvin as his default bride. It made her feel like she was less than adequate.

"But...you weren't supposed to be his bride? You seem so right for each other."

Eliza smiled. "He's a good man. I got here and married him
that day knowing I needed to hide out. I went back to my real name which took some getting used to. I've been L1 Angelina for so long,
I almost forgot who I was." She shrugged. "I'd been here almost a month when I sang in church for the first and only time. The pastor asked me to sing 'Silent Night' for the Christmas morning service."

"Oh, I love that song. You've always sung it beautifully. Do you remember when I was twelve and you were ten, and you sang it on Christmas morning back in upstate New York?"

Eliza grinned at the memory. "Yes, but when I sang it then, no one heard me and contacted Sebastian." She looked down at her hands. "I got a letter a few weeks later threatening you and the boys again. The letter said I can't even sing in church. Whoever it was knows I'm here, and I have to believe they know you're here too. If I don't sing in public again, you should be fine though." She hated that her sister and her nephews were in danger because of her. They had to find the man who was threatening them. Calvin was right.

Beulah sat back for a moment stunned. "But you have to sing in church. God gave you your beautiful voice so that you can share it with others. Not so you can hide it away."

"I can't risk your life." How could Beulah not see how
important she was?

Beulah sighed. "I'm not going to take the boys to school until this is settled. I don't want them apart from me. I'll teach them at home, and they can do chores around the ranch. Learning to be ranchers can only help them in life."

"So I guess poor Slater is going to be driving us all to town today." Eliza wrinkled her nose. She hated the idea of shopping with the boys.

Beulah laughed. "No, we'll send the boys out to learn about ranching from their Uncle Calvin while we shop."

Eliza's face lit up. "Oh, I like that idea a lot!"

*****

Eliza was surprised by the large crowd standing in front of the mercantile that afternoon. Why had so many hardworking men left their ranches on a Monday morning? She'd never seen anything like it.

As they got closer she heard someone call out, "I'll take ten raffle tickets!"

Eliza looked at Slater. "Go see what they're raffling off. I might want to buy a ticket." She hadn't seen that big a crowd in town
except on Sundays. Whatever they were raffling must be good.

"I can't do that unless you promise to stay put. Both of you need to remain in this wagon until I come back. Do you understand me?"

Eliza nodded. "I'm not going to do anything stupid. I promise." She might if she were alone, but she would never risk her sister.

The two sisters watched as Slater walked over to the edge of the crowd and questioned a man there. He came back looking like he was torn between wanting to laugh and being disgusted. "You ladies do not want to know." He walked over to help Eliza down before taking Beulah's hand and helping her.

"What are they raffling?" Eliza asked.

"Beulah." Slater closed his eyes as he waited for the storm to hit.

"What? They can't raffle off my sister!" What were they thinking? Did they not realize they couldn't make a woman a prize?

Beulah's jaw dropped. "They're trying to buy me? To make me a prize in some kind of contest?"

"Well, you wouldn't be their slave or anything. They're selling raffle tickets to decide who gets to marry you." He looked disgusted to have to admit to what the other men were doing.

"I will
not
be raffled off!" Beulah hurried off before Slater could stop her, rushing to the man who held the tickets and a wad of money. She snatched the money from his hand before anyone could stop her. "I need your attention, gentlemen!"

The noise was so loud no one could hear her. She looked over and saw Eliza beside her. "Get their attention, please."

Eliza took a deep breath and sang the highest note she could possibly sing without straining. After years of practice and training she could hold a note for a long time, and gradually all the noise died down around her as the men stopped talking and realized who was standing there. When she heard not another sound from the men, she quieted.

"Now that I have your attention, I need to make an announcement," Beulah said. "I will
not
be raffled off. Those of you who have spent your hard-earned money buying raffle tickets trying to become my husband are out of luck. The church thanks you for your donation. Now get back to work. If you want the chance to be my husband, you may court me like a normal man. I will not be disrespected this way. Good day." It was all she could do not to kick the man who'd been selling the tickets. What did he think gave him the right?

They watched as the crowd slowly dispersed, several of the
men grumbling about her keeping their money. "I spent ten whole dollars on tickets! That's a lot of money!"

"I told you to spend your money on perfume and chocolate instead. You should have listened to me," his companion mumbled as they both walked off.

Eliza was tom between laughter and tears. One thing was certain. Calvin was right about the men all wanting her sister for their wife. The boys didn't deter them one bit.

*****

When they got back to the ranch they barely had time to make lunch. They had more supplies which they'd needed but no time to use them. "Let's just do a quick meal of bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast," Beulah suggested. "We'll make something good for supper to make up for it."

Eliza nodded. "You do the toast and bacon, and I'll make the eggs." She had the bowl against her stomach mixing the eggs when she heard a knock on the door. She walked over and called through the door, not willing to open it without knowing.

"It's Slater, ma'am. There's a Mr. Bigelow here
to see you."

Eliza opened the door wide. "Come in, Mr. Bigelow. Do you
have news for me?" She led him to the parlor taking a seat and inviting him to do the same.

He settled into an armchair and focused on Eliza. "I do have news. The person sending you the threatening letters was Jerome Black. He--"

"He's Irene Gale's manager! We sang together several times." How could Jerome have been the one to send the letters? He was a nice man.

He nodded. "That's correct. Apparently he felt that if you were out of the way Miss Gale would get some of the parts instead of you."

She sighed. "He's always been so nice to me." Beulah came into the room with a tray with tea and the cookies they'd baked Sunday afternoon. Eliza took a cup and a plate of cookies thankful for the distraction. "What happens now?" She'd had more dealings with the authorities in the past month than ever before in her life. She hoped it wasn't a trend that would keep going.

"Mr. Black is in custody. You've given me the letters, and they're now in the custody of the police. A case will be built, and he'll go to trial. You're safe again, Mrs. Simpson."

Eliza let out a breath. She could sing again. Anytime she wanted. In front of anyone she wanted to sing for. It was freeing.

"Thank you, Mr. Bigelow. I do appreciate your time."

He got to his feet. "I 'm happy to be of service."

"Would you like to stay for lunch? It's just breakfast foods, but there's plenty of it." She couldn't let him leave without feeding him when he'd just brought her such wonderful news.

"No, thank you. I have another train to catch." She stood, and he shook her hand. "It's been a pleasure meeting a singer of your caliber. I hope to hear you perform again someday."

Eliza shook her head with a smile. "I'm afraid I won't be singing outside church any longer, Mr. Bigelow. I'm a wife and soon to be mother. I don't have time for singing any longer." She knew she wouldn't miss it either. Singing in a church was all she'd ever wanted, despite what people around her had wanted for her.

"The
world
will be missing out on a great talent."

She walked him to the door thanking him again. When he was gone, she ran across the room and hugged Beulah tightly. "It's over. The man who was threatening me is behind bars." She couldn't keep the joy from her voice. She wanted to dance a jig, but she'd never been a great dancer and didn't want to fall and harm the baby.

Beulah smiled relief on her face. "My boys can go to school."

"I can sing in church! I can't wait to tell Calvin and not be
guarded anymore." Eliza had no idea how oppressed she'd felt until the danger was over. Finally, she'd be able to be a normal housewife who just happened to like to sing in church. Nothing more.

The door opened, and Calvin rushed inside. "Slater told me Mr. Bigelow came by. He didn't wait for me?" His eyes were panicked as they met Eliza's.

Eliza smiled her whole face lighting up. "He didn't need to wait. Everything's fine. The man who was threatening me is in jail awaiting trial. I'm free!"

Calvin smiled finding her enthusiasm contagious. While they ate, she talked about singing in church again and about how much she'd missed it. The more she talked, the more Calvin's heart sank. She wanted to return to her old life of singing now that the danger was past. He could feel it.

While they washed the lunch dishes Beulah asked, "What was wrong with Calvin during lunch? He seemed happy at first, but then he seemed to get sadder and sadder as the meal went by. Do you know why?"

Eliza looked at her sister with surprise. "He did? I wonder why." She'd been so caught up in her own excitement, she hadn't even noticed.

"I'm not certain. Does he not want you singing in church?"

Eliza frowned. She knew how Calvin felt about her singing, but he'd said he didn't mind when she sang in church. Had he been lying? She wanted to be able to at least sing for services, but if he didn't want her to, she wouldn't. He was more important to her than her singing. She'd never thought she'd be able to say that about a man. But with Calvin, it was true.