Mail Order Calamity (Kansas Brides Series #4) Read online

  Mail Order

  Calamity

  Book 4

  Kansas Brides Series

  Barbara Goss

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

  This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this book is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage system without express written permission from the author.

  Copyright © 2016 Barbara Goss

  All Rights Reserved

  Kindle Edition

  Cover design by: Samantha Fury

  This book is dedicated to all my friends on the new Facebook group: Sweet Wild West Reads for their loyalty and support. Love you guys. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1832790870336744/

  Also to my proofreaders, beta reader, and editor, Elise Sherman Abram.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 1

  Elaina Andrews walked toward the general store thinking about dresses and shoes. Since it was a lovely spring day, she chose to walk the mile to town instead of riding her horse or taking a buggy. On the way, she delighted in the sight of birds searching for grass or straw to build nests, wild flowers budding in the fields, and leaves that were about to burst open on the trees that lined the road.

  She finally arrived on the main street of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and was gazing at the newest building, a tailor shop, when she stopped dead in her tracks on the walkway. She gasped and pressed herself against the front of the hardware store, but could do nothing except stare.

  Three men with handkerchiefs covering their faces were fleeing from the bank and were running in her direction. She stood there frozen, her eyes wide with fear.

  Each masked man carried a cloth bag and looked to be heading for a buckboard parked just five feet from where she stood. The driver, hat pulled down over his face, sat on the wagon bench, prompting the men to run faster.

  The driver whipped the horses and the wagon jerked forward, just as the men reached the vehicle. In their hurry, one man nearly missed grabbing onto the moving wagon and the handkerchief flew off his face. Elaina gasped as she recognized the man.

  As they rode off in a cloud of dust, the unmasked bandit turned, looked at her, and made a slashing gesture with his finger at his throat. Elaina received the message loud and clear: identify me and die.

  Minutes after the wagon had disappeared in a cloud of dust, the sheriff’s men dashed after them on horseback in pursuit.

  She didn’t know how long she stood there against the building, quaking in fear until Cuyahoga Falls Deputy Sheriff, John Hammond shook her arm.

  “Are you all right, miss?” he asked.

  “I’m all right,” she said weakly. “I just…I never saw anything like it.”

  “Did you recognize any of the men?”

  Elaina shook her head.

  “Look, you’re pretty shaken up. I’ll have one of my deputies escort you home,” he said.

  Elaina simply nodded.

  She still stood pressed against the building when Deputy Tommy Clements approached her. “Let’s go, Miss Andrews. I’m taking you home. Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “I’m just shocked, is all.”

  “The bank gets robbed at least three times a year. We’re used to it by now. We already have deputies chasing after them. C’mon,” he pointed to his shiny department vehicle, “into my chariot.”

  She sat down beside the deputy and said, “If you catch them, you won’t tell them I identified them, will you?”

  “So you do know who they are?” he asked as he whipped his horse lightly.

  “No!” She quickly covered for her remark. “I just…they gave me a look, is all. I’m just worried they’ll think I recognized them and turned them in.”

  “I’ll be sure to mention that you didn’t see a thing,” he said with a laugh. Elaina couldn’t for the life of her figure out why he’d laugh at something that frightening.

  As soon as the sheriff’s department vehicle stopped in front of her house, she jumped down and ran inside with barely a wave to the deputy. She ran up to her room and threw herself onto her bed.

  Her older sister’s fiancé just robbed a bank! What would she do?

  If she said anything, she knew he’d carry through with his threat. If she didn’t, her sister would marry a criminal. Elaina never liked Frank Fillmore, but she would never have pegged him as a bank robber. She wondered if the other two bandits were his brothers, Walter and Hugh.

  Just then, her sister, Esther, came into the room. “It’s your turn to set the table.”

  “I’ll be right down,” Elaina said.

  “What’s wrong with you? You’re as pale as a wilted daisy.”

  “I..I just don’t feel well.”

  “If you want me to set the table for you, Elaina, then I will, but you’ll have to do it the next two nights.”

  When Elaina didn’t answer, she prodded, “Well what’s it to be? I don’t have all day. I have Frank coming round tonight.”

  Esther's mention of Frank made Elaina jerk to attention. “I’ll set the table.” She got up and walked to the door. She hesitated, tempted to tell Esther. Instead, she clamped her mouth shut and went downstairs.

  After dinner, Frank came to call. Elaina was drying dishes when Esther dragged him through the kitchen on her way to the back door. Elaina looked up, saw him, and dropped the dish she’d been drying, sending it crashing to the floor where it shattered into a hundred pieces. Frank gave her another warning look.

  “Mama’s not going to like it,” Esther said as she went out the back door with Frank. There was a swing in the yard they often sat on. Elaina had often seen them kissing out there.

  Elaina’s fingers shook as she picked up the pieces of the plate. She was nearly done when her mother burst into the room.

  “What happened?” her mother asked. “Careful.” She sighed. “Let me help you, Elaina.”

  Her mother bent down to help and grabbed Elaina’s hand. “My goodness, you’re trembling. What’s wrong? You hardly ate your dinner, you’re pale, and now you’re shaking.”

  “I’m all right,” Elaina said. “I think.”

  “I’m calling Doc Brown,” she said.

  “No, really. I saw a bank robbery in town today and I’m a bit shook up by it, that’s all.”

  “Oh, dear!” Evelyn reached out and hugged her daughter. “You should have said something. I’d have done the dishes.”

  “Mama…” she started.

  “Let me clean up this mess and then we’ll talk,” Evelyn said. “The tea's ready. Take the tray in to Papa. I’ll join you both in the sitting room shortly and then we can talk about this incident.”

  Elaina sat on the sofa while her father, Howard, sat in his armchair, puffing on a pipe with a book on his lap.

  “Where’s your mother?” he asked without looking up.

  “She’s coming.”

  Evelyn c
ame in and sat beside Elaina. “Tell us about this bank robbery.”

  Howard looked at them and raised his eyebrows.

  Elaina told them every detail except the fact that she'd recognized one of the robbers.

  Elaina awoke to sunshine shining across her bed. She stretched and yawned. How she loved waking up to sunshine and the sound of birds chirping. Then she remembered the bank robbery, and how she'd recognized Frank, and her cheerful mood turned to despair.

  She slipped on her robe and padded into her sister’s bedroom. Esther was lying in bed, but her eyes were open, so Elaina sat down beside her.

  “Esther, I need to talk to you.”

  “So, talk already. I’m just reliving Frank’s kisses. He sure knows how to kiss,” she said with a sigh. “I love him so much.”

  “When do you plan on marrying him?”

  “Soon. He told me last night that he’d come into some money‒an aunt or someone died, I think‒so he’s going to start building us a house, and then we’ll tie the knot.” She sighed loudly. “I can hardly wait.

  “I’m sorry, Elaina. What did you want to talk about?”

  Elaina couldn’t break her sister’s heart. She just couldn’t break that kind of news to her, but she couldn’t let her marry Frank in good conscience, either. She had two choices: tell Esther, or tell the sheriff.

  “I just wondered if you wanted to go into town and shop today,” Elaina said.

  “I would, but Frank and I are going on a picnic. He’s calling for me at noon.”

  “Oh. Well, maybe another time then.” Elaina got up and walked to the door. “Have fun today.” She scooted back to her own room to get dressed.

  Elaina was in the kitchen peeling potatoes with a paring knife when she heard Frank coming in the front door, and her sister squeal with delight. She came into the kitchen with him, picked up the picnic basket, and pulled Frank to the back door.

  “Wait,” Frank said, “you go saddle your horse, and I’ll be along in a minute. Maybe your sister would be kind enough to pump me a glass of water.”

  “Sure. Meet you by the stable,” Esther said as she sailed out the door.

  Elaina trembled all over when she heard Frank wasn’t going outside with Esther. He looked at her and she tensed.

  He walked over to her slowly, and without breaking eye contact, pulled the knife from her hand, and put it to her neck.

  Elaina felt as if she were going to faint from fright. She tried to back away from him, but she was already against the kitchen wall. The knife felt cold against her skin and she was shaking so much she feared she’d nudge the blade into her neck herself.

  “You will keep your mouth shut, won’t you sister, dear?” Frank said between clenched teeth.

  “W-what you did was w-wrong,” Elaina said.

  “If you so much as breathe a word of this to anyone, you’re a dead woman. I mean it. I did what I had to do in order to provide for your sister. Don’t spoil this for me. If I go to jail, my father and my brothers have orders to kill you.” He pressed the knife with the blade pointed sideways against her throat. “Do you understand?”

  Elaina nodded.

  “Good.” He threw the knife onto the table, walked to the door, opened it, turned, and gave her the slicing at his own throat gesture before he left.

  Elaina grabbed the table feeling dizzy and sick to her stomach. What was she to do now?

  Chapter 2

  Sarah Decker, Elaina’s best friend, stopped by for a visit shortly after Frank and Esther had left for their picnic.

  “What happened?” Sarah said. “You’re all pale and worried-like.”

  Elaina finally had someone she could talk to. “Let’s go upstairs, Sarah, and I’ll tell you.”

  Up in her bedroom, Elaina and Sarah sat on her bed, crossed-legged.

  “Now, tell me what’s bothering you, Elaina. You're usually so cheerful.”

  Elaina confided everything to Sarah, who listened with rapt attention.

  “Oh, no!” she exclaimed when Elaina told her about Frank having held the knife to her throat. “Whatever will you do?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t let my sister marry him.”

  Sarah gazed out the window, a thoughtful look on her face. Elaina knew Sarah would try to help her.

  “I also have a confession to make,” Sarah said. “I’ve been writing to a fellow in Kansas. I signed up to be a mail order bride, Elaina.”

  Elaina wasn't sure why Sarah had changed the subject, but she welcomed the diversion. "You didn’t!”

  “He seems very nice. He’s a constable in a place called Hunter’s Grove, Kansas,” she said. “I really want to get away from here. My parents are fighting, I think my father's going to leave my mother, my brother joined the army, and my sister married and moved to New York. I just want to get away from it all.”

  “So are you going?” Elaina asked.

  “Not this time. I can write to another man on the mail order list because I will eventually go, but I want you to turn Frank in, and the same day, go to Kansas and…marry Peter Mullins.” She said the last quickly.

  “Oh, I couldn’t marry someone I don’t even know.”

  “What other choice do you have, Elaina?”

  Elaina looked down at her hands. She’d always imagined getting married in Cuyahoga Falls to someone she loved while her family looked on. She got up, walked to the window, and gazed out at the backyard she’d played in since she was an infant.

  “How would I get there?”

  “The man sent me a train ticket. I was to leave the day after tomorrow. I came here today to say goodbye to you,” Sarah said.

  “While I hate to take away your big opportunity, I just can’t let my sister marry Frank.”

  “Wait. If he’s in jail, how could he possibly hurt you?”

  “He said his father and brothers would kill me.”

  “Oh. Well…you’re welcome to my train ticket. Don’t give it another thought. There’s more where he came from. Out west, there are so few females and so many single men.”

  “Are you sure, Sarah?”

  “Yes. There are loads more to choose from.”

  Elaina turned from the window. “I’ll do it.” She gave Sarah a hug. “Thank you.”

  “Promise me you’ll keep in touch,” Sarah said, returning the hug. “I won’t tell anyone where you’ve gone, even your family, but I want to know where you are and how things are going. We’ll meet up again someday. I’ll try to pick another man in Kansas so we won’t be too far apart.”

  Once Elaina had the train ticket and the last letter from Peter Mullins, she went to the deputy sheriff, told him everything, and then walked to the train station to board a train for Kansas. She left her family a letter explaining everything, promising to contact them when she was settled.

  Pete Mullins was sitting in his office writing a report when his friend, Garrett Turner, walked in. After mutual greetings, Garrett sat down on the chair opposite Peter’s desk.

  “So, is she coming?”

  “Yep. She should be here this week sometime. I’ve instructed her to wire me from one of the many stops along the way so I'll know exactly when to be at the depot.”

  “You must be eager to meet her.”

  “Yes. It’s exciting, but scary. All I know about her is that she’s twenty, her family situation's a mess, and she wants to leave Ohio. She sounded level-headed enough. I've only just now started to worry,” Pete said. “What if she’s an eyesore or a battle axe?”

  “You could always beg off, you know, make up some excuse, like you’re a wife-beater or something.” Garrett laughed.

  Pete laughed with him. “Think she’d buy it?” Pete asked.

  “The way it’s usually done is to marry them right off the train. I don’t think I can do that, Garrett.”

  “I'd wait a few days. She could stay with Amber and me, or with Edna Smith.”

  “Well,” Peter said slowly, “if she’s comely, I might rush her
to the justice of the peace before she sees all my faults.”

  Garrett stood. “Good idea, Pete. Hey, Cole sends his regards. He and Abigail took a trip to St. Louis for a horse auction.”

  “He’ll be surprised when he comes back,” Pete said.

  “If you need a witness, you know where to find me,” Garrett said as he went out the door.

  When the train stopped at the depot, Pete wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. He was a little more than nervous about who might alight from the passenger car.

  The conductor lowered the steps, and several people stepped off the train. Suddenly, he caught sight of a woman so striking, he gasped involuntarily. She had auburn hair, large blue eyes, and a petite figure. She was dressed in a purple skirt, white blouse, and turquoise jacket. Her face presented innocence and wholesomeness, and while he wouldn’t classify her as beautiful, he would definitely put her in the exceptionally pretty or cute category. He gazed at the other people waiting for passengers, hoping against hope that none of them would run to greet her. She had to be his Sarah.

  He was already in love.

  The closer the train came to Hunter’s Grove, the more nervous Elaina became. Would this Peter beg off the deal when she told him she wasn’t Sarah? The thought of pretending to be Sarah was tempting, but he’d probably never forgive her for being dishonest. No, she’d have to tell him the truth right away. If he wanted to change his mind, it was fine with her. At least she’d gotten away from Cuyahoga Falls and the Fillmore family.

  The train came to a screeching halt in Hunter's Grove, Kansas, spitting steam and whistles sounding loudly. She stood to gather her things, gazing out the window as she did, where she saw a number of people waiting to greet passengers. She scanned the group and saw a man in a plaid shirt that she wished was Peter Mullins, he was that fit and that good looking. He wore a large, wide-brimmed hat and tan pants. Could she be that lucky?