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Chapter One
Albert Dailey stood leaning on the fence that separated his property from his father’s. Unlike his father before him, he wanted to raise beef cattle, while his father had raised some, his real desire had only been to train horses. His younger brothers seemed to be following in their pa’s footsteps, but Albert was all about the beef cattle.
His stepmother, Susan, walked toward him, holding the hand of his youngest half-sister. “Hey there,” she called. “You look lost in thought.”
He sighed. “I am.” He took the baby from her, hugging her close. He had moved out of the house with his family and now had a small house on his own land adjoining his father’s, but all of his younger siblings still loved him. “Just thinking that I never have time to go into town and meet any ladies. Kinda thinking it’s time for me to marry and have a couple kids of my own.”
“Just don’t have six like your father and I have,” Susan said with a laugh. “And we had four before we were even married.”
He grinned. “What would you think about me sending a letter to Aunt Elizabeth about a wife?” He knew his aunt, whom he’d only met once, was a matchmaker back in Beckham, Massachusetts, where his stepmother had come from.
“I think that’s a good idea. Maybe she’ll send you one of the demon horde,” she said with a smile. Her younger siblings had been referred to as the demon horde since she was about ten. After her first four children, her mother had let her brothers and sisters run wild, though there’d been a new baby every sixteen months or so.
Albert laughed. “That would be awesome. Imagine the pranks our children would pull!” He and his brother Lewis had been quite the pranksters when they’d been younger—until Susan had married their father and put a stop to all their shenanigans.
Susan groaned. “No demon horde child for you. Seriously, I can’t even imagine what would happen. That baby would bebornpulling pranks.”
“I know.” He grinned at her. “No, I won’t request someone from the demon horde, but I think I will write to her. It worked out well for you and Pa.”
“It did. We’ve been happy for the past fourteen years together. I’m sure Elizabeth will find someone just perfect for you to marry. I’ll give you her address when you come home for supper tonight.”
“I was planning on eating at my place…”
“I know how well you cook. We eat a six,” she reminded him, taking the baby back. “Clarissa and I are going to conquer the world today. That means we’re going to play and play and play. Right Clarey?”
Clarissa laughed and patted her mother’s cheek. She was obviously in agreement.
As Albert watched Susan walk away, he started envisioning the kind of woman who would get off the train to marry him. She would be beautiful, just like Susan, but more than that, she’d be smart, able to cook, and she’d have to love children. He felt something was missing in his life, and a wife and children would fill the void perfectly.
He’d write to Aunt Elizabeth now and have the letter ready to go as soon as he found out where to mail it to. He couldn’t wait to meet his wife.
*****
Alice Miller made the walk into town to work at the mercantile. This was her second year working there, and she hated the job. She hated the walk into Beckham every day, but more importantly, she hated the way people looked at her. It’s not like she was still pulling pranks on people. She’d grown up to become a productive member of her community, but at nineteen, Alice had never been kissed. She’d never had a boy slip her a note in class about meeting him in the woods at lunchtime so they could kiss either. It was a lonely life, and she blamed it all on her reputation, which she blamed on herself. She shouldn’t have gone along with all the pranks her older brothers had suggested. Her brothers were all miscreants, and they shouldn’t have been allowed to influence younger children.
At the store, she put her apron on, and she began putting the new stock on the shelves. It was the same thing every day. Arrive at ten, stock the shelves. Go behind the counter at noon, so the proprietor and his wife could eat a nice lunch together. Then she would have her own lunch, straighten the shelves, and make sure everything was where it belonged. At four, she would sweep the entire store and the front stoop. At five, she was off and made the long walk back home. Every single day. No changes. No excitement. Just boredom.
She was still stocking the shelves when she heard a voice behind her. “Alice, can you come to my house after work, so we can talk?”
Alice turned to see her older sister Elizabeth standing there. Elizabeth was the second eldest girl of the Miller clan, (the two oldest were boys)and she’d always been well-behaved. “Why? Are you going to find me a husband, and let me go off to parts unknown to marry a stranger?”
Elizabeth laughed. “Is that what you want me to do?”
“It is! I know it sounds silly, but that’s exactly what I want you to do.”
“Then come see me for supper. I’ll have Bernard ride out to let Ma know that you’re spending the night with me. We’ll talk, laugh, find you a husband, and have a little sister time.”
Alice laughed, flinging her arms around her sister. “I knew you were here to save me from a life of banalness.”
“What are sisters for?”
As soon as work was over, Alice headed toward her sister’s house on Rock Creek Road. It seemed to Alice that her home could better be referred to as a mansion, but Elizabeth called it a house.
Bernard came to the door as soon as she knocked. “Your sister is in her office. You know the way?”
Alice nodded. “I do know the way. Thanks, Bernard.” The man intimidated Alice, but she just kept reminding herself that if he was scary, Elizabeth never would have married him. She walked down the hall and opened the first door on the left. “Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth looked up from the baby she was nursing, a smile on her face. “I’m going to finish feeding her while we talk if you don’t mind.”
