Blessed Assurance: Hymns of the West Novellas, #6

Prologue

Ross had everything in place. His plan was so flawless even the best detective would have a hard time finding anything out.

The letters had been sent with all the needed tickets. The trap had been set and now they had to wait two weeks for it to spring. As the days passed, Ross wondered if he had made a mistake. They had never tried five at a time before. As soon as the thought came, he rejected it. There was no mistake. There could be no mistakes. He had thought everything through.

Of the five young women, three were quite desperate. They would be no problem at all. The other two simply wanted adventure. Adventure was something Ross excelled in doling out and the twins would get it in more abundance than they had ever dreamed.

Two more weeks. Two more weeks and he could leave Cheyenne for good. Two more weeks and he would be away from the prying eyes of the Pinkerton detective. Away from the investigation that would suddenly fizzle out and die after ten long years. Away from all the suspicious looks. Two weeks...

Chapter One

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!

Miss Adelaide, will you marry me? a man slurred.

Adelaide cringed. Did she really look that desperate? No, I will not.

The man’s face crumpled. Why?

Adelaide closed her eyes and counted slowly to ten. You are a drunk, poorer than I am, and filthy. I’ve never seen you at church and I won’t marry a man who isn’t a Christian.

Orrin Jefferson sighed and stumbled away from her. Once he was gone, Adelaide Brown breathed deeply. Thank You, Lord, for protecting me from him again.

She hurried home, newspaper in hand. Maybe today there would be an advertisement for a job or someone looking for a mail order bride.

Once inside the house her parents had built before she was born, she sat in her father’s chair. Had it really been over a year since he had last sat there? She shook the dismal thought from her head and opened the paper, starting with the advertisements.

Young farmer in need of wife. Must be able to cook. Young widow with children fine. Must be 18-26. Kit Tyler, Abilene, Kansas

Sheriff’s assistant, 22, seeks wife. Write Benjamin Paul, Cheyenne, Wyoming

Adelaide felt a lump forming in her throat. God, she choked, can I really do this? Marriage is such a sacred thing. How can I do it so lightly just so I can survive?

A peace that could only come from God washed over her and she let the tears flow down her cheeks. Pa, Ma, I miss you so much. I don’t want to leave this place, but I don’t have a choice. No one will hire me except at the saloons, and I can’t farm this place by myself.

Adelaide roughly wiped the tears off her face, stood up, and hurried to her mother’s desk. She pulled out a piece of paper and dipped the pen into an inkwell to start her letter to Kit Tyler and then one to Benjamin Paul. Once they responded, she prayed she would be able to discern between the two.

***

Two weeks later, she got two letters back. She was almost out of town when she ran into someone. Ex-excuse me. I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there, Adelaide apologized, wondering how she hadn’t seen the man. She had been paying attention to where she was going.

The man tipped his hat to her. Little lady, you can run into me anytime. He looked her up and down and Adelaide suppressed a shudder.

He swept his hat off and bowed. I am Theodore Raskins. To whom do I owe the pleasure of bumping into?

Adelaide swallowed hard. This was one of the richest men in Columbus, Ohio, not to mention most notorious for womanizing. And she had run into him? God, help me! I am Adelaide Brown.

Thomas Brown’s daughter? His smile was lascivious. My, my, you’ve grown up. Didn’t you lose your parents recently?

Adelaide clenched her jaw. What was this man getting at? Yes.

I am deeply sorry. Thomas was a good man. If you’ll excuse me, I have some business to attend to.

Adelaide nodded and took a deep breath as he walked away. Had Mr. Raskins purposely stepped in front of her or had she really not been paying attention? She shook the thoughts away and walked home.

After settling into her father’s chair, she opened the letter from Mr. Tyler.

Thank you for your letter. You sound like a good woman for me. You said you wood like to hear more about me. I am a farmer. I don’t have many frends becuz this is a ranching area and Im a farmer. They don’t really like me. Im tall with red hair and green eyes. I look like an Irishman, which dusnt help people liking me. I aint an Irishman, though, and don’t have a broog, so I don’t know why they call me won. If you still want to talk, rite and ill rite back.

Kit Tyler

Adelaide grimaced at the misspellings in the letter. She knew education was hard to come by in the West, and that it was hard to judge character by a letter, but unless Benjamin Paul was worse, she would probably go with Benjamin.

Adelaide opened the second letter and three tickets fell out. She looked at them. One was a train ticket to Chicago, another was a train ticket from Chicago to Fort Robinson, Nebraska, and the other was a stagecoach ticket from Fort Robinson to Cheyenne. Her breath caught and she hurriedly unfolded the letter. It was hard to read due to horrible penmanship, but she managed to read it.

Dear Miss Brown,

Thank you for responding to my advertisement. I hope I am not being too presumptuous, but I can tell from your letter that we are a perfect match, so I sent you the tickets to come here to meet me.

I help the sheriff with odds and ends around his office and sometimes go out to help catch a man when needed. The sheriff is a good man and heartily recommends me to you. I’m a little over six feet tall, have two older brothers, and go to church every week possible.

I love learning and read as much as I can. Do you like to read? If you choose to come out here, you can answer that question when we meet. If you choose not to, please send the tickets back to me so I can get a refund of most of the money.

I look forward to meeting you, Adelaide.

Yours,

Benjamin Paul

Adelaide smiled. Besides his handwriting, Benjamin sounded like a good man who loved life. She looked at the date on the train ticket and jumped up. The ticket was dated four days away. She had a lot to do in a short amount of time.

Chapter Two

O what a foretaste of glory divine!

Four days later, Adelaide had packed up everything she wanted to bring. Going through her mother’s and father’s things had been hard and she struggled to keep only what would fit in her trunk. A hanky and pocket watch from her father, her mother’s comb and mirror set, some linens, and the baby gown her mother had made for her were all she kept. She also sold the farm and rebuffed Mr. Raskins each day as she packed. After running into Mr. Raskins the first time, he thought it necessary to talk to her each time she was in town. If she didn’t know better, she would think he was trying to court her without actually telling her so.

As she prepared, people started getting curious, but all Adelaide told them, including the snoopy Mr. Raskins, was that she was going West. She boarded the train and breathed in relief when she saw Mr. Raskins run up as the train gained speed. If looks could create things, he likely would have created thunder and Adelaide shuddered to think what would have happened if he had been just a few minutes earlier.

The train ride to Chicago was uneventful and Adelaide was thankful not to have anyone sit near her so she didn’t have to try to make conversation. Sleep was fitful, but she did manage to get some. In Chicago, she had a little time before her next train arrived at the station, so she walked around the station multiple times to stretch out her legs more easily. She wasn’t brave enough to try to take a walk into the city itself, even though she would have had time.

***

As the train approached Fort Robinson, Nebraska, she looked at her stagecoach ticket and sighed. A delay due to ruined tracks meant she would have to practically run to the stagecoach office to arrive on time. Why she couldn’t just take the train straight there, she had no idea. Maybe Benjamin had wanted her to have the full experience of traveling out West.

Coming into Fort Robinson! the conductor called. Next stop, Fort Robinson!

Adelaide picked up her bag and got ready to stand up as soon as the train stopped. Two minutes later, the