Merry's Mission Read online

  Yours in expectation,

  Nathanial Quinn

  Maryanne handed her the next letter.

  Miss Baker,

  I am pleased you have accepted my offer and am looking forward to seeing you. You sound like a good match for my needs. I too would like a family to replace the one I lost during the war. I thought I better mention this in case Mrs. Crenshaw didn’t. My wife and two- year-old daughter, were murdered by a band of army deserters. They burned my homestead and stole my livestock. I came home to nothing except a pile of ashes and two freshly dug graves.

  I vowed never to marry again and wandered around the West until moving to Wyoming where I took up a grant of land from the government. My five years is almost up, and the ranch will soon be mine, which is why I need a wife now I have something to offer her. And to be honest, I could risk losing my spread if I don’t have a wife, so, you can see I’m quite desperate.

  Sincerely,

  Nathanial Quinn.

  His next letter was even briefer.

  Miss Baker,

  I am sending you the coach ticket and will be anxiously waiting to hear back from you about your arrival time. I promise I will be at the stage depot to meet you and we can be married as soon as I see the preacher.

  Sincerely

  Nathanial Quinn

  “Oh, that poor man,” Merry said.

  “You see, he would be perfect for you.”

  “I don’t know. I’d be living a lie.”

  “You wouldn’t, not really.”

  Merry gnawed her lower lip, wondering why she was even contemplating such a thing, even though the man’s story was tragic.

  “We’re similar in looks,” Maryanne went on. “He’s never seen me. How would he know? You could say Merry is your nick name. Our backgrounds are similar.”

  Merry glanced up and cold dread washed over her. She almost brought up the piece of pie she had just eaten.

  “What’s wrong?” Maryanne asked. “You’ve gone as white as a sheet.”

  “I saw the man who married my mother and one of his friends walk by. He must have followed me.”

  “How could he know where you were going?”

  Merry was shaking so much she could barely hold her coffee cup.

  “All the more reason for you to marry Nathanial Quinn. I’ll give you his letters. We can do this. Everyone will get what they want. You’ll have a safe place to hide, I can marry Brian and Nathanial Quinn gets a wife.”

  “How could Zeke find me here?”

  “I don’t know, maybe your friend told him.”

  “Blanche? Never. Unless….” Would he have threatened her, forced her to tell him? Merry couldn’t stop trembling. Why had she decided to wear her favorite bonnet? The one her mother had helped her trim with pink and yellow flowers around the brim and yellow ribbon dangling down her back. Pure vanity and it could get her killed. Her mother knew she wouldn’t go anywhere without it, would have described it to him in detail.

  Of course, it could be pure coincidence. What if it wasn’t?

  Maryanne took her brown bonnet off and handed it to Merry. “Your bonnet really stands out. Wear mine.”

  “If I give you mine, he might kill you.”

  “I won’t wear it. I’ll turn it inside out and carry it, so it won’t stand out. If we walk to the stage depot arm in arm it should throw him off your trail. He wouldn’t expect you to be with someone else.”

  It wasn’t much of a plan although Merry was desperate enough to consider it. In her agitated state she couldn’t think of anything better.

  They finished their coffee and paid their bills before dubiously stepping out onto the sidewalk. Merry glanced around, thankfully, no sign of Zeke. He was a cunning criminal, so he could be lurking out of sight. With arms linked they headed toward the stage depot.

  “I will change places with you,” Merry said.

  “Thank you. I don’t think you’ll be sorry, Mr. Quinn sounds like….”

  “A nice man. I know you’ve already told me. I just wish I could be sure I’m doing the right thing.”

  Chapter Four

  “Excuse me, ladies.” The Marshal spoke as he strode up to them. “Where are you two heading?”

  “To the stage depot. Why?” Maryanne asked.

  “I’m warning all young women who are out and about today to be careful. The telegraph office passed on a message to me. A woman in Winslow was attacked and savagely beaten this morning.”

  Merry’s legs nearly buckled under her. Zeke must have beaten her whereabouts out of Blanche. Icy chills tore through her body. She exchanged a frantic glance with Maryanne.

  “How’s the victim?” Maryanne asked because Merry was beyond speaking.

  “She’ll live, but she took one almighty beating.”

  “Thank you for the warning,” Maryanne said. “We’ll be careful.”

  “Oh, dear God, it had to be Blanche. It’s all my fault.”

  “No, it’s not. If anyone is to blame, it’s your mother for getting hitched to such an evil man.”

  “She’s become as bad as him.” It was a horrible thing to say about her mother but sadly true. How could Zeke have known she went to Blanche for help? Ma, of course. She was acting like she was crazy in the head.

  At the stage depot, Maryanne presented the ticket to the clerk. “Are you both travelling?”

  “No, just my friend.”

  “Well, you’ll have to change at Dearmont, stay the night there and switch to another stage in the morning to get to Laramie.”

  The girls exchanged glances.

  “There’s accommodation at the Dearmont stage depot, a bit rough but it’s clean. No extra charge.”

  Merry breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t have much money and wanted to save as much as she could of it, in case Nathanial Quinn had lied and was an unsavory man. In which case she’d have to leave Laramie in a hurry.

  She was a fugitive who had done nothing wrong. The unfairness of it all was soul destroying.

  They sat down together. If she was going to carry this off and she had to now her life was in jeopardy, she needed to have more information.

  “I have to know what you told Mr. Quinn and Mrs. Crenshaw.”

  “I only told them what I told you. Oh, I’m twenty-one.”

  “Me too.”

  “My aunt’s name is Ethel, and we live on a small spread a couple of miles out of Raeburn. That’s about it. We’re about the same height with similar eyes and hair color. Mrs. Crenshaw interviewed me, so she would know what I look like I suppose, although she would only have sent a description to Mr. Quinn.”

  Merry was worried sick. She couldn’t stay here, couldn’t go back home. Laramie and Nathanial Quinn were beginning to sound like her savior.

  “You can do this, Merry. I know you can.”

  Strange how with the worry and anxiety lifted from her shoulders, Maryanne had become confident and assertive, while her spirit was wilting like a flower in the hot sun.

  As the stage readied to go, the two girls hugged each other.

  “When you get settled, write and let me know how things are,” Maryanne said. “If Brian and I are married and I move from here, Aunt Ethel will know where to forward the letter. She’ll be surprised when I arrive back home.”

  “Will she be angry?”

  “No, I don’t think so, not now I’ve done right by Nathanial Quinn and supplied him with a bride. I hated the thought he might lose his ranch because of me. I think that’s what worried Aunt Ethel so much. He sounded so desperate, poor man.”

  One last hug and Merry climbed aboard. Maryanne handed back her squashed bonnet. Maybe she could salvage it when she got to Mr. Quinn’s place. Please God, let this be the right thing for me to do, she inwardly prayed as the stage pulled out of the depot.

  ****

  Nathanial Quinn glanced around his cabin. It was small, compact and solidly built. He had thoroughly cleaned it. Had even used the sheets, Naomi had given him to p
ut on the bed. He thought the glass jar with the summer flowers on the mantel above the fire prettied it up a bit.

  His bedroom was separate from his kitchen, sitting room. There was a large loft area, which would be ideal for the children he hoped to have with his new wife. He had mourned the loss of Lucinda and his little gal for too long. He had to start afresh while he was still young enough to do so.

  “The past is the past,” he muttered. He had taken a bath last night and shaved. Now he was dressed in his best clothes, his boots shiny from much polishing.

  He gazed at the empty wall brackets which had once held his prized possession, a pair of dueling pistols belonging to his English grandfather. He had sold them to pay for the ticket to bring Maryanne to Laramie and to buy a wedding band.

  You shouldn’t have bought Eddie’s place. You couldn’t afford it. A property adjourning his coming on the market was a once in a lifetime chance. He stood to lose everything if he couldn’t leave here and obtain paid work. Just a few weeks would be enough to get him back on his feet. With a wife here to help, he could do it.

  What if she was frail or lazy like Eddie’s wife Naomi? Worry gnawed at him. Maybe she was the kind of gal who was too fearful to stay out here on her own. That’s what made Eddie sell, his wife wanted to move back to Colorado to be closer to her family. Naomi had always been spoilt and selfish and he couldn’t understand why a man like Eddie would marry her. “I’m crazy in love with her,” he had said.

  “Love!” He didn’t believe in it anymore. The pain of loving and losing was too much to bear. It weakened a man’s resolve. Eddie had arrived here and claimed his land a year or so before him. He had built a sod house into the hillside. Probably not the best place for a woman to live, still, it wasn’t too bad. He had built a decent barn and had good fencing. Eddie knew he didn’t have much spare money, so he had sold the place to him cheap rather than let old man Vasey have it. Greedy old varmint had bought every small ranch he could, using force if necessary.

  “Well, he ain’t getting my place,” Eddie had said. “I’ll sell you mine cheap. Naomi’s father is prepared to sign over half his ranch to me if we go back. Now Adrian got himself killed Naomi is his only heir.”

  It had been blackmail, pure and simple Nate thought, threatening to leave the ranch to a distance cousin if they didn’t return. With a baby on the way, Naomi was anxious to go back to have the support of her parents.

  With a large Colorado ranch dangling in front of me like a fat, juicy carrot, I’d have gone back too. He was honest enough to admit it.

  The war had decimated the male members of his family and scattered the women folk all over the West, so he was virtually alone. Another reason he needed a wife. He wanted to feel a woman’s warmth again in his bed, have someone to talk to in the evenings after chores were done. More importantly, he wanted a baby to bounce on his knee. Well, he wanted two or three babies, but not all at once. He stifled a laugh. Well, he’d prefer one at a time.

  He hoped Maryanne had told the truth about herself. He had, well not quite, no point frightening her off by mentioning the Vaseys and the trouble they might cause. It wasn’t as if he had lied about it, just didn’t mention it.

  Curtains at the window would have added a nice touch, maybe he should have asked Naomi if she had any spare ones. There again, now the soddy was empty he should have gone over and checked out if they had left any behind. He would do that after his bride arrived.

  There would probably be a few bits and pieces left behind. Naomi and Eddie were moving into a fully furnished ranch house, so they wouldn’t have taken much. Some sneaky varmint might have already been there and cleaned the place out. Why hadn’t he thought of this before?

  He had already spoken to the preacher who had agreed to marry them today, which would save having to pay for Maryanne to stay overnight in town. This marrying business was more complicated than he remembered.

  Buckling on his gun belt, he took one last look around to assure himself everything was as good as it could be and left the cabin. The next time he stepped inside the cabin he would be a married man.

  ****

  The stage pulled in at the Laramie depot, and trembling with apprehension Merry clambered down. There was still time to pull out if she wanted to. All she had to do was confess to Mr. Quinn what she had done and give him back his ticket money.

  A man from the depot came out to help the driver unload the passengers’ luggage. Merry collected her two carpet bags and glanced around. A tall young man with a tanned face and brilliant blue eyes strode over to her. Could this be Nathanial Quinn?

  He passed by without giving her a sideways glance and started toward the other young woman who had been her traveling companion on the stage. They had even shared a room on their overnight stop. The girl had hardly spoken at all. Merry couldn’t decide whether she was shy or just plain unfriendly.

  “Mr. Quinn?” He stopped and swung around. His eyes widened.

  “Miss Baker? Maryanne?” He swept off his hat. His gaze swept her from head to toe.

  “Yes, everyone calls me Merry, though.”

  He grinned. “All right, Merry, I’m Nathanial, but call me Nate.” He put his hand out and she shook it.

  His skin was warm, fingers slightly callused from hard work. His dark brown, almost black hair was neat, if a trifle long. More importantly, he was clean. He went up in her estimation. She had dreaded the thought of contemplating marriage to an unkempt or dirty man.

  “Um, your luggage?”

  “It’s here beside me.”

  “Oh, you traveled light.”

  “Easier that way.” She smiled.

  “Yeah.” He gave a grin. “For me at least, I don’t have to risk my back by lugging heavy trunks around.”

  At least he had a sense of humor. She was warming to him with every passing moment.

  “My buckboard is over there.” He picked up her bags as if they weighed nothing and she followed him over to an old buckboard. The horse waiting patiently for them looked to be plump and well cared for.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I saw the preacher the other day when I was in town and arranged for us to be married straight away.”

  “You did?” Shock raised her voice. “I thought, well….”

  “If you don’t like the look of me, just say so.”

  “It’s not that, I thought we could have a few days to get to know each other first.”

  “I don’t have the time to wait. Look Miss um, Merry, I need a wife fast.”

  She gasped.

  “Yeah, the people from the Land Agency are coming to check that I’ve kept all the terms of the contract I signed. I’ve built a cabin, and got the place looking well, but a wife….”

  “Would be an asset?”

  “Yeah.”

  He placed a hand on either side of her waist before lifting her into the buckboard. His touch wasn’t unpleasant, quite the opposite.

  “I’m sorry if you thought we could get to know each other before we wed, but I’ve only got a couple of days. Even if it wasn’t for the Land Agency, I’d still want to marry you.”

  “You would?”

  “Yeah. You’re an attractive young woman. I was afraid you’d be….”

  “An ugly hag?”

  He laughed. “Are you a mind reader?”

  “No, I was thinking you might be uncouth and ugly.”

  “Well, we’re both pleasantly surprised. Mrs. Crenshaw said you were pretty.”

  “I was told you were handsome.”

  They both laughed. He climbed up beside her flicked the reins and they were off. It only took a few minutes for them to arrive at the white painted church on the edge of town. A house was attached to the side of the church with a separate entrance. The place had a pretty front garden.

  The church itself had an arched door and windows, with a bell tower as well.

  “It’s pretty,” she said, feeling the need to break the silence. “Do you attend church?”r />
  “Occasionally, but I don’t get much time working a ranch on my own.”

  He knocked at the door. As they waited Merry’s anxiety grew. Was she doing the right thing? Once they were married it would be until death do them part. If she didn’t marry him where would she go? What could she do?

  She’d noticed he wore guns, obviously a sign of a man who could look after himself – and her. He was a handsome man in a rugged kind of way, and he didn’t act or speak uncouthly. It was what she was expected to give him tonight in their marital bed, which sent fear coursing through her.

  The door swung open. It was too late to run away.

  “Good afternoon, Nate. So, this is your pretty bride. Pleased to meet you, my dear. Everyone calls me Preacher Joe.”

  “I’m pleased to meet you, Preacher Joe.” Merry smiled at the short, snowy haired man.

  “Come inside. My wife will act as one witness, our gardener the other.”

  The front door led directly into a large sitting room containing dark furniture, which gave it a slightly cluttered feel. A large painting of the Last Supper hung over the huge fireplace.

  “I’ll go and get the witnesses. Do take a seat.”

  Merry felt too nervous to sit down and Nate kept clenching and unclenching his hands.

  Preacher Joe swung around. “Oh, my boy, have you got the ring?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.”

  “How did you know what size to get?”

  “You sent me a ribbon with marks on it so I would know what to get. Don’t you remember?”

  Merry forced a laugh. “Of course, nerves must have made me forgetful.”

  Maryanne hadn’t mentioned it. What else hadn’t she told her? What if it didn’t fit her finger? If it was too small, she could say she had swollen fingers because of the long coach journey, too big and she could say she must have lost weight. It wasn’t easy masquerading as someone else.

  Maybe she should confess and see if Nate would still marry her. He did say he was desperate. Thank goodness they weren’t in church. Lying to the preacher in his home was bad enough, but in God’s house, she couldn’t have done it.