The Accidental Mail Order Bride Read online

  No. It wouldn’t. Allie had heard about prostitutes who worked in saloons.

  “I can see the judge has frightened you,” Caroline said. “I wish he hadn’t done that. Allie, I promise you, Travis is a good man. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “Are you coming in?” Eric called out.

  “Yes, we’re coming,” Caroline replied, sounding just as chipper as Eric.

  Well, maybe the two were well-matched after all. They shared the same ridiculous optimism.

  Allie followed Caroline into the cottage. The place was even darker than it’d been outside because the curtains were drawn, preventing any light from making its way in.

  The judge struck a match and lit the kerosene lamp in the kitchen, and Allie had almost wished he hadn’t because now she could see the dust that covered the curtains and the unused dishes and shelves in the kitchen.

  “It’s a bachelor’s home,” Caroline told Allie. “You need to keep that in mind.”

  The judge rolled his eyes, and Allie had to agree with him. The place seemed much more suitable for a beast than a human.

  “Let’s see the rest of it,” Caroline said, still not missing a beat in her cheerful demeanor.

  The judge led the way out of the kitchen, and since Caroline smiled expectantly at her, Allie proceeded forward.

  The parlor was similar to the kitchen. The furniture had seen better days, and most of the room had gone unused, which meant more dirt and dust. There were even dirty footprints on the floor from where Travis had brought mud into the house. With a glance back, she noted the floor in the kitchen had the same telltale signs he hadn’t taken his boots off before entering the house. Oh heavens. She had her work cut out for her. Even with a large family, she couldn’t recall seeing so much to clean up.

  Eric lugged a basket with a pile of clothes, a blanket, a hat, and grooming supplies. Her eyes widened. Grooming supplies? Travis took the time to comb his hair and shave? She was shocked since he didn’t bother taking care of anything else around here.

  “Your trunk is in the bedroom,” Eric told her. “You can put your things anywhere you want.”

  Since everyone expected her to check the room out, she did, dragging her feet the entire way. The bed was larger than she’d expected it to be, but maybe he needed a big bed because he was large. She recalled how tall and broad he was. Yes, a small bed wouldn’t have fit him.

  The sheets and blankets on the bed weren’t made, something that didn’t surprise her after seeing the rest of the house. The floor was cleaner in here, though, indicating he at least had the sense to remove his boots before coming into this room. She inspected the rest of the room. There was something missing, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. It seemed to have everything a person would expect. A bed, a dresser, and a washbasin. There was even a small wardrobe to hang things in and a shelf to set hats on. So what was it?

  “You want to see the last room?” Caroline asked.

  She might as well get this over with. Allie left the bedroom and went to the last room, which also happened to be a bedroom, except this had two beds, a small dresser, and hooks on the wall to hang things. All of these went unused. But there was something she noticed in this room that had been missing in the other one. There was a sheet draped over a large circular object above the dresser.

  Curious, she went over to it and lifted it, sneezing as the dust rose up and met her nose. She wiped her eyes then took a look at what was behind the sheet. A mirror. That’s what was missing from the other bedroom! A mirror.

  She returned to the other bedroom. Her gaze went to the dresser, and she saw that the dresser had, at one time, held a mirror. There were missing screws, telling her it’d been removed. She inwardly shivered. If all Travis had were some scars, why did he take away this mirror and cover up the other one? What kind of man couldn’t even bear to look at himself?

  She glanced at Caroline who was tidying up the bed. She had the nagging suspicion that Eric and Caroline were lying to her. Travis had to have more than scars on his face. Even if the rumors were exaggerated, certainly there was some truth in them.

  Eric returned, still smiling as if this was a joyous event. “Alright. I think we’re ready for the wedding.”

  “I can come here and help you clean this place up,” Caroline told Allie. “Once we get rid of the dust and cobwebs, it’ll be lovely.”

  Cobwebs? Allie’s gaze went up, and sure enough, she spotted several of them along the ceiling. Looking down, she noted they were also along the corners of the floor. Everything about this place was dirty. She didn’t know whether to scream or cry.

  Oh why—oh why!—couldn’t she have ended up with someone other than Travis?

  Caroline put her arm around her shoulders and led her out of the bedroom. Caroline probably figured Allie needed a good nudge in order to go through with this. And Caroline was right. If there was some way she could get out of this marriage, she’d hop in the wagon and lead the horses back to town herself. But there was nowhere else she could go. She was stuck here.

  When they were out of the cottage, Allie stopped. She had a sinking feeling this was going to be a disaster. But what choice did she have? At least this way, she had a roof over her head and would be left alone.

  She supposed the only saving grace was that Travis was willing to leave her alone. He wouldn’t be living in this cottage with her. Releasing a shaky breath, she said a quick prayer then marched forward to her doom.

  Chapter Three

  Travis had just put on a shirt and his hat that Eric had brought out to him when he saw the group coming toward the building. Just as he feared. They were really going to go through with this. He blocked the door with a large piece of scrap metal and waited for them. There was no way he was going out there. The judge would have to perform the ceremony—such as it was—with a door between them. This was now his only safe place, and he wasn’t going to let anyone invade it.

  One of the people knocked on his door, making him jump. He shouldn’t have been surprised. He’d seen them coming. It was why he set the obstacle in front of the door.

  “Are you ready?” Eric asked.

  No. But was that going to stop them? He couldn’t live with himself knowing Allie had to go to the saloon because he wouldn’t marry her. With a sigh, he called out, “Yes, I’m ready.”

  “Are you going to come out here?” Caroline asked.

  Travis couldn’t believe his ears. Why did she think he had Eric lug all of his things out to this building? “No, I’m staying in here.”

  “You are?” Caroline replied, sounding incredulous.

  Thankfully, the judge interjected at this point. “We can do it this way. All Travis and Allie have to do is agree to the vows. They don’t need to see each other.”

  Which was for the best.

  The judge cleared his throat. “We are gathered here today to join in holy matrimony Travis Martin and Allison Jones. Marriage is an honorable institution and not to be entered into lightly.”

  Travis snorted. What irony. This whole thing was being done with very little thought or care.

  The judge paused, indicating that everyone on the other side had heard him, and Travis’ body warmed with embarrassment.

  Clearing his throat, Travis said, “Pardon me. I sneezed.” Fine. So it was a lie. But did everyone really want to know the truth?

  “As I was saying,” the judge picked back up, “this is an honorable institution in the sight of God and man. If anyone wants to back out of this, now’s the time to do it. Once the vows are said, there’s no undoing them.”

  The judge waited, but as Travis expected, no one thought it best to warn the poor woman she’d be better off joining a convent than strapping herself to the likes of him. He didn’t even know if that was possible at this point. Probably not. She’d made the trip here, and she probably didn’t have the money to go to one. He would’ve offered to pay it, but he had no more than what he owned on the property, which wasn
’t worth much. So…marriage it was.

  “Alright,” the judge said. “Since no one voiced any objections, I’ll go right on with it. Travis, do you take Allison Jones to be your wife? Do you promise to love, honor, and protect her all the days of your life? Will you keep her in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, forsaking all others for as long as you both shall live?”

  Wincing, Travis forced out, “I do.”

  The judge repeated the same vows to her, and something in Travis hoped she might say no and save them both the misery, but, in a soft voice he could barely hear, she said yes. Well, that did it. Now their fates were sealed. The poor woman. From this point on, her life would be miserable.

  “By the power vested in me,” the judge continued, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. Under ordinary circumstances, I’d say you could kiss the bride, but I see no point since you’re behind a door.”

  Travis wanted to tell Allie he was sorry, that if it’d been up to him, she would have found someone better, but the words died in his throat when Caroline congratulated the two of them.

  Since everyone was distracted by listening to Caroline go on and on about how wonderful marriage was and how much she looked forward to getting to know Allie better, Travis dared a peak through the small window by the door. Caroline was hugging Allie, so he didn’t get a good look at her until Caroline let go of her.

  Even from a distance, he knew Allie was pretty. But what he had failed to realize was just how beautiful she was. She didn’t have a single blemish on her smooth, pale skin. No scars tarnished her appeal. Plus, she was perfectly proportioned. She had a nice hourglass figure. Indeed, she seemed more like an artist’s dream than a real woman.

  He shook his head and slipped away from the window. A couple couldn’t be more mismatched. What was she doing with someone like him? If she’d been ugly…if she’d had some deformity, this might not be such a horrible ordeal. Or even if she had an ordinary appearance, it might be bearable. But she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. And she was stuck with him. A feeling of unease welled up in his gut. He’d just condemned that poor woman to a lifetime with him. Just how was he supposed to make it up to her? He couldn’t. He could spend his entire life giving her gifts and apologizing, and it’d never be enough.

  ***

  Eric and Caroline gave Allie some food a woman named Lois had made for her before they left with the judge. Caroline had promised she’d come out the next day with a friend. Allie didn’t recall the friend’s name. Nor did she care to at the moment.

  She was all alone out here with a man known to frighten most of the people in town. A man, as it turned out, who refused to show her his face. She shivered. Maybe the whole thing shouldn’t have spooked her, but it did.

  She spent the rest of the day cleaning. There was so much to clean, she wasn’t sure where to start, but in the end, she figured the kitchen would be the best place since she’d be cooking food in here. Fortunately, there was a covered barrel of fresh water by the door. She made haste to grab enough for the pitcher and a bucket before she hurried to lock the door.

  After that, she occupied her time with cleaning the best she could. In the dim light coming through the parted curtains, it was hard to tell if she was doing a good job. But the water in the bucket was quickly becoming a murky brown, so she figured the kitchen had to be better off than it had been.

  One thing she did like about the shade from the trees was that it made the cottage cooler than it would’ve been otherwise. The wind drifting in from the open windows also helped. So the task turned out to be less daunting than she had feared when she started.

  At one point, she heard some pounding coming from the large building. She stopped scrubbing the floor and went to the kitchen window. The window of the building was open, but the cottage was too far from the building for her to get a good view of what was happening in there.

  Her mind unwittingly went back to the warning the judge had given her. Was Travis working on some gruesome project? Just what kind of things did a man with his reputation work on? He was so secretive. The only way she was going to find out what he was doing was to sneak up to the building and peek into that window. But she didn’t dare.

  It was best she didn’t know. She didn’t need to get caught up in whatever horrible activity he was doing. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she turned back to the floor and continued scrubbing it.

  By the time she was done, it was late. The sun was setting for the day, and the flame in the kerosene lamp was pretty much the only source of light she had left. Her body aching, she stretched, working out the kinks in her muscles. She scanned the room, noting that while the room looked better, there was still a long way to go.

  Deciding she’d dump out the dirty water tomorrow when the sun was back out, she ate a quiet and quick meal at the window. She watched the building. As far as she could tell, Travis hadn’t lit a candle or a lamp. The place remained dark. Maybe he didn’t need a light. Maybe he could see in the dark.

  When she was done eating, she closed all the windows, locked them, and made sure the door was still locked. Feeling only a little bit better, she took the kerosene lamp and went to the bedroom. The place looked even more foreboding in the evening than it had in the day, something she didn’t think possible.

  She set the lamp on the dresser, acutely aware of the missing mirror. Not sure what she’d find in the drawers, she pulled them out and saw they were free of dust. Probably because Travis had put his clothes in them. Well, she might as well do the same with her things.

  She thought the process would go smoothly because she had turned the wick up all the way for maximum lighting. But while she was putting one of her shirtwaists away, she thought she heard a noise from the other room.

  She stilled and listened. She didn’t hear anything else, but that did little to comfort her. Gripping the shirtwaist, she debated whether or not she should investigate the cottage. If she didn’t, she might not be able to sleep. She put the shirtwaist away and then straightened up.

  After she took a deep breath, she reached out for the kerosene lamp, noting the way her hand trembled. She quickly put her other hand under the base to support it, lest she drop it and squash out the only source of light she had, and slowly made her way to the door.

  This was so different than how she’d imagined her wedding night would be. She knew things would be awkward, but she’d thought her husband would be a normal human being and would want to spend time with her. She hadn’t expected this scenario in a million years.

  Well, whether she’d expected it or not didn’t change things. This was going to be her life, for better or worse. And as she stood in the doorway, her gaze going across the shadows in the parlor, it was looking like it was going to be worse.

  She took a tentative step forward, her gaze seeking out all the corners in the room. Nothing struck her as unusual. Everything looked like it had earlier. So far, so good. She waited for any other suspicious sounds, but all was quiet.

  She proceeded further into the parlor, and after being assured nothing was going to jump out and attack her, she went to the other bedroom since it was closer to her than the kitchen. A careful search didn’t give her anything to worry about there, either.

  That left the kitchen. The kitchen was where the door was. Bracing herself, she tiptoed to the kitchen, listening for anything she should worry about. All was quiet. And while that probably should have been reassuring, it only spooked her all the more.

  She tiptoed to the kitchen, holding her breath the entire way. Once she was at the threshold, she peeked into the room. Nothing seemed out of place. The room was just as sparse as the other rooms. She didn’t think anyone could easily hide here.

  As she inspected the small area, she saw that the brush she’d been using had fallen off the table and had landed on the floor. She started to laugh then, and with the laughter came some tears that found their way down her cheeks. She’d never been
more relieved to see a brush in her entire life.

  She returned to the bedroom and put the kerosene lamp on the dresser. Wiping her eyes, she closed the door and scooted her trunk in front of it. There. Just in case someone—Travis or otherwise—did come in, she’d have enough warning. The trunk might only be halfway full, but it was still heavy enough to make the person work in order to push it aside. She’d finish emptying it later.

  She looked at the bed, wondering if she really wanted to lie down in it. Caroline had taken the time to pull up the blankets and fluff the pillow in an attempt to make things more comfortable for her, but Allie didn’t know if she could get comfortable in something Travis slept in. With all the rumors circulating about him, wasn’t it possible his blanket and pillow might have some creepy crawly things living in them?

  After a long moment, she pulled back the blanket and studied it and the sheet underneath. She then inspected the pillow. They looked alright. She brought the pillow up to her nose. It didn’t smell bad. It didn’t smell terrific, either, but at least there was no foul odor coming from it. She then smelled the blanket and sheet. Again, everything smelled fine. Feeling a bit safer, she lifted the sheet and checked the straw mattress. That looked alright, too.

  Relieved, she settled into the bed. Though she was warm because she had closed and locked the window before she pulled the dusty curtains over it, she refused to get undressed. If she needed to get up in the middle of the night, for whatever reason, she wanted to be prepared.

  So she pulled back the blanket and settled onto the bed. She was about to drift off to sleep when an image crept into her mind. It was the image of a man covered with hair. He had three eyes and long fingernails. He was hovering over her, as if ready to devour her. Gasping, she bolted up into a sitting position.

  No monster was in the room with her. She was safe. She was alone. All was quiet in the house. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she fluffed the pillow again. Since the head of the bed was against the wall, she propped the pillow up along the wall and rested her back on it.