Authors: Autumn Vanderbilt
“Emma, look at this ad. He’s the right age and there’s no mention of children. Write to him and don’t forget to use my name. That way I’ll get the replies with Mrs. Hodges being none the wiser.” Leah had cut the ad out of the newspaper and had a pen and paper ready for Emma.
“What will I say, Leah?” Emma still wasn’t sure this was the right thing to do but she was limited in her options. It would be the only way to leave Lenny.
“Just tell him you’re interested in finding out more about him as you’re tired of living in the city. Remember to tell him you’re a seamstress so he’ll know you are good with your hands.”
Emma sat on Leah’s bed and wrote a reply to Henry Devine.
“I’ll mail it tomorrow for you.” Leah put the envelope in her coat pocket.
“But Leah, I don’t think the post will move fast enough. Lenny wants to marry soon as in within the month now and I’m running out of excuses.” Emma looked so deflated. Time wasn’t on their side.
* * *
The delivery boy from the Western Union office had caught Henry before he left his cabin. Henry was surprised to get a telegram. Opening it with anticipation, he read its contents while the delivery boy waited for a reply.
Dear Mr. Devine,
I’m Leah Russell, aged 18, in good health. My work as a seamstress is coming to an end and I am anxious to leave the city to start a new life in the countryside. I can pay my own way.
Sincerely,
Leah Russell.
She was direct and Henry liked that. He had gained a lot of knowledge about her from a few short lines. If she was 18, she was unlikely to have been married and she didn’t mention any children. She worked as a seamstress so that was handy and she could pay her own way. Not that money was an issue for Henry but it showed him that she wasn’t in this for the money. But Henry was a little confused, should he reply or leave it be? What was the urgency in sending a telegram? Perhaps she wanted to stand out from the other women who might reply.
Not wishing to be dismissive of a young woman’s initiative, Henry composed a response:
Dear Miss Russell,
Your initiative impresses me. As a show of faith, I would prefer to pay for your travel and will book a return ticket for you. Tell me a little more about yourself and your upbringing in your next letter. I have never been married and am new to ranching. I look forward to getting to know you.
Sincerely yours,
Henry Devine.
“You sure you want to send such a long reply, Mister. It’s gonna cost you.” The boy had one eye raised as he looked from the letter to Henry.
“Just tell me the cost.” Henry wasn’t going to explain himself to a youngster. He had been such a successful bounty hunter that he never needed to worry about money again, just as long as he was careful with his expenditures. That was the positive of his past life. He owed nothing to anyone.
* * *
“Emma, where is the bracelet with the diamond setting?” Lenny kept careful track of all his gifts to Emma. But he had not seen this particular bracelet for a few weeks. He had noticed that Emma was less enamored with him but she never mentioned what she had seen. That soothed him. He wished she had never seen it but was she really that innocent to think he could buy her diamonds and emeralds without being involved in something illegal. After all, she was just a seamstress, not an heiress. But Emma was that innocent. Lenny knew it.
“Lenny, it should be there. I wore it that night I…” She remembered it was the night she had witnessed Lenny’s job and the bracelet must have broken when he grabbed her wrists and pulled her. Lenny knew by her frightened expression when she lost the bracelet. For some reason, instead of ignoring it, Lenny got angry with Emma.
“Why didn’t you tell me it was missing? Don’t you know how expensive it was? You should have told me it was missing.” The words came out in such a torrent that his spit was all over Emma’s face. She began to shake and instead of comforting her, Lenny left her room, banging the door behind him. The bang seemed to send a shudder through the house and Leah came running in.
“Leah, I’ll have to go as soon as I can. He was so angry with me… over a bracelet. I’m afraid, Leah. I’m so afraid.” Emma was on her knees on the floor in tears and Leah sat beside her, hugging her and telling it would be okay. Leah sat by Emma’s bed that night as Emma was too afraid to be alone. Leah had never seen her like this, not even the evening she witnessed Lenny’s other side.
In the early morning, Leah heard a knock on the front door of the boarding house and as she seemed to be half awake, she decided to answer it. It was a telegram and she opened it. She ran upstairs as fast as she could.
“Emma, pack your bags. You’re going to River Valley, Wyoming today. Quick, before Mrs. Hodges wakes. I’ve some money to pay for your ticket.” Leah had a plan.
Emma struggled to wake. Waking up meant facing a reality she no longer wanted. Rubbing her eyes, she wondered what on earth Leah was going on about.
“But I can’t go today. I don’t know where Henry Devine is and he hasn’t asked me to marry him.” Emma still couldn’t understand the reason why Leah was hurriedly packing her bag.
“Look, Emma. He’s replied. It was sent from River Valley, Wyoming. Look. You can go to there and find him. We can’t wait any longer. Lenny’s too unstable for you to stay any longer. My dear friend, I want to stay but I’m afraid I’ll lose you if you don’t go. When you get to River Valley, ask the Sheriff for Henry Devine’s whereabouts. He’s bound to know him.”
Emma still wasn’t quite convinced that this was the best plan, to turn up unannounced, but Leah had gone back to her room to freshen up having left Emma to get dressed.
It was too early to get a cab so the two friends walked as fast as they could. They didn’t want to draw too much attention to themselves by running, just in case Lenny had someone watching Emma. Leah carried the little suitcase to look as though she was the one leaving. There was a train headed out West but it wasn’t direct so Emma would have to take note of when she had to change stations. Leah wished she could travel with her but there wasn’t enough money for both of them.
With Emma safely ensconced in her carriage, Leah bade farewell. It was up to Emma now to make the changes she wanted to make and hopefully she was going to a good man.
“What if he rejects me, Leah?” Emma was fearful.
“No one could ever reject you, Emma. Keep safe. Talk to no one and sell this when you can.” Leah thrust some jewelry into Emma’s hands.
“I can’t, Leah. That’s stealing. I wanted to leave everything that Lenny had given me behind.” Emma didn’t want any reminders of him.
“It’s yours. It was a gift. You may need the money, if not, send it back to me and I’ll pass it to Lenny. It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Good luck Emma. May God be with you.”
The whistle blew signaling the train to depart. Emma hung out the window until Leah was just a tiny speck in the distance and then she was gone. Leah let out a sign of relief. She just hoped it wasn’t going to come back on her.
Emma wasn’t alone in her carriage. There was an elderly woman traveling with her daughter. The women were chatty but Emma was hesitant about talking about herself. Any information could be used to be relayed back to Lenny. Emma didn’t like to be rude and felt there was no harm in at least being civil.
“Why are you going to River Valley? Do you have family there?” The older woman asked.
“I’m to be married there. I’m a mail order bride.” The two women looked aghast at Emma’s revelation.
“Are you sure you want to do that? Sylvia, tell the girl about your friend Josephine. Tell her. She needs to know what she’s getting into.”
Emma looked at Sylvia whom she estimated to be in her thirties.
“My friend Josephine answered an advertisement from a man in Texas. She was so excited. They exchanged letters for months and months and she felt she knew him. Anyway, in one of his letters he proposed and Josephine was over the moon. I tried to talk her out of it, didn’t I, mother?” The older woman nodded and Sylvia continued.
“Well, off she went to Texas. Like you, so happy and excited and do you know what happened? Well, I’ll tell you. He was aged 60 instead of the 40 he had told her. His two grown sons lived with him and they expected her to cook and clean for them. He was a dreadful man who made her sleep in the barn because there was no room for her in the main house. As soon as she could, she escaped into town and sent me a telegram. I wired the cost of the ticket to her. She came back a broken woman. A broken woman, didn’t she mother? And that wasn’t even the end of it. He wrote to her asking for her to send him the fare as she owed him for that. Here’s our stop. We’ll pray that your situation will be different but it’s unlikely. Those men who head West without a woman are very uncouth. Come along mother.”
Emma sat there, alone, trying to make sense of what they told her. Could it really be that bad? Suddenly Lenny didn’t seem so bad, at least, she’d have nice clothes and jewelry.
“Stop it, silly Emma. Lenny is a bad man.” She was still trying to convince herself that she was making the right choice.
“That Josephine had been writing to the man for months. Whereas I’ve just sent one telegram. Please God, keep me safe. Give me a sign that I’m doing the right thing.” Emma was disappointed when nothing happened except for a man who got into the carriage with her. He didn’t take much notice of her other than to wish her good day and he sat in the corner with his newspaper. Emma felt relieved. She wasn’t sure she could handle any more horror stories. Was that why Leah had given her the jewelry? To give her a safety net so she’d have a way out.
Her plan, as per Leah, was to book into a local hotel and to ask the Sheriff where Henry Devine lived. Without realizing it, Emma fell asleep from the motion of the train lulling her into sleep. But her dreams were more like nightmares. She could see Lenny like a big black cloud moving over her and she couldn’t outrun him.
“Wake up, Miss. Wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”
Emma opened her eyes and looked blankly at the man who had his hand on her shoulder trying to wake her.
“Pardon me?” she asked.
“You were crying out in your sleep. It must have been a very bad dream. May I get you something to drink?” It was the man from her carriage. He was polite.
“No, thank you, I’m fine. Sorry, I disturbed you.”
“Not at all.” He sat back in his seat and resumed his newspaper reading.
Emma watched him and he had a very nice signet ring on his little finger. Lenny had introduced her to the finer things in life and she appreciated nice things. She heard the call for her to change trains. The man in her carriage was getting off at this stop too.
“Excuse me, do you know which train I take to River Valley?” Emma asked as she followed the man off the carriage.
“You can follow me, Miss. That is where I’m headed.” He said as he reached out to take her suitcase. She had to run alongside him, his stride was so long. She hadn’t paid that much attention to him when they were on the other train and she didn’t want to be presumptuous to sit with him so how was she going to get her suitcase back.
“There is it, Miss. Here’s your bag back.” He tipped his hat at her as he disappeared onto the train. While mostly relieved that she didn’t have to feel obliged to converse with him, Emma was a little disappointed that he hadn’t escorted her to a seat. Lenny would have done that, she thought to herself but quickly scolded herself for using Lenny as a reference.
There was a delay in leaving but Emma didn’t mind. She enjoyed watching the goings on at the train hub. People rushing here and there, all looking very purposeful. The train left the station and as it picked up speed, the surroundings began to blur. Emma was on the last leg of her journey. She just prayed that Henry Devine wasn’t going to be annoyed by her sudden arrival.
When the train arrived in River Valley, Emma spotted the man who had been in her carriage in the distance. No one was waiting for him and he disappeared from her sight. She turned to ask one of the people beside about a hotel and they directed her but she didn’t need directions, the town consisted of one street and she checked herself into the hotel.
After a quick freshen up, she looked out her window, it faced onto the street and she saw the jailhouse. Someone was sitting outside and she presumed it to be Sheriff so she left the hotel to see him.
“Good afternoon, Sheriff. I’m wondering if you can help me. I’m looking for someone I think lives in these parts.” She smiled sweetly at him.
“Welcome to the town, ma’am. So who are you looking for?”
“Sheriff do you know Henry Devine?”
“What do you want with Henry, if you don’t mind me asking, Miss?”
“I’m here to marry him.”
“You’re what? Are you sure Miss?” The Sheriff’s grin wasn’t settling the knots in Emma’s stomach.
“Could you direct me to him please?”
“I can indeed Miss. But I think you’re mistaken in the marrying bit. Come with me.” He stuck out his elbow for Emma to take it and Emma began to think he was playing some joke on her as they headed back to the hotel.
“Sheriff, if this is some kind of…” Emma was broken off by the Sheriff, who was pointing to a man. A very familiar looking man.
“That’s Henry Devine, Miss. Henry, I’ve someone here for you. She says she’s here to marry you.” The people in the hotel lobby began to laugh. Henry went red in the face and then he looked at the young woman by the Sheriff’s side.
“You’re the woman from the train but what, how?” He walked over to Emma.
“You’re not Leah Russell, are you?” He looked Emma up and down. Yes, she had to remember she was Leah here.
“Yes, I am. I’m sorry to do this to you but my situation worsened in the city…” Emma was interrupted again but this time by Henry.
“Miss Russell, I never asked you to come. I don’t think this is a good idea.” Henry was aware that they were the center of attention.
“Could we go outside Mr. Devine? Please let me finish talking.” They walked outside for a little more privacy.
“My job has finished and with my modest savings, I’ve come here to get to know you. I’m not asking to marry today but I think if we are to get to know each other, it should be in person, not in letters. I’m booked here in the hotel.”
“I don’t really know what to say but I guess it makes sense to be able to visit with you and as you say get to know each other. But please let me pay for your hotel for now at least. Isn’t it strange, there we were sitting in the same carriage first and then the same train?” Henry had calmed down a little bit. While he was used to dealing with a stressful situation, affairs of the heart and their emotional stress were new to him.
His estimation that Leah Russell was very resourceful was more than correct. There she stood before him and he wasn’t quite sure what to do next.