Chapter 6

Hattie

Hattie sat in the coach and looked out the window. Finally, the scenery was changing. For the first two days, after they got off the train in Billings, everything seemed so flat and the same; just mile after mile of prairie, as far as the eye could see. Then yesterday, as they stopped for the night, they could see some hills and mountains in the distance. Finally, they were traveling through those hills and the driver had told them they’d reach Sanctuary just on the other side of the next hill.

Hattie didn’t know how it had happened, or why she had felt the urging of God not to correct it, but the other nine brides had all started deferring to her as their unofficial leader. She had a feeling that they had gotten her confused with Pastor Long’s daughter, since their names were the same, except for spelling. She had almost set them straight several times, but each time had felt the Holy Spirit say wait. Well, that would all be over soon.

When they arrived in Sanctuary, she was sure that Haddie’s beau would set them straight. She just prayed they wouldn’t be upset with her. They started down the hill. Hattie looked ahead and could see the town, nestled in a wide valley between the hills.

The church, with its steeple, sat almost at the foot of the next hill. A large house that looked like something out of the Deep South with several large white pillars on a long porch sat further up the hill, looking down on the town.

While definitely not a city like Chicago, it seemed like a nice little town. She felt the last of her anxiety slip away. She was finally free of Papa John Torrio, and the future looked pretty. Hattie heard a sigh from the other side of the coach and looked at the frown on Josephine Wrigley.

“Not much of a town, is it?”

They all looked at her, waiting for her response. “Well, it isn’t Chicago, but we knew it wouldn’t be. Remember why we came here, ladies. Not for the shopping but to find a husband and start a family. I think this will be a good place to do that, don’t you?”

They all nodded, and even Josephine smiled. “I’m so glad you are with us, Hattie. You know just how to make us see what’s important. Thank you.”

Hattie smiled as all the girls agreed and thanked her. This was not what she had wanted. Haddie was going to be their pastor’s wife. She should be who they were looking to for encouragement. Not some orphan from the brothels, like her. She hoped they wouldn’t be too mad when they found out she wasn’t the Haddie they thought she was. She needed to tell them their mistake.

Before she could say anything, the stagecoach pulled to a stop. And the driver called out, “Sanctuary, ladies. End of the line for ya.”

The girls all looked at her again. “You heard him. End of the line, ladies. Time to meet your beaus and start the first day of our new lives.”

They each nodded and the girl from Philadelphia, Lyla, opened the door. They all climbed out, one by one, with Hattie bringing up the rear. She took the hand offered to help her down and looked up into the face of the most handsome man she’d ever seen.

He was smartly dressed in a black suit and tie on a simple white shirt. His shoulders were wide and she could feel the power behind his grip, even as he cradled her hand in it. His smile was infectious and, if she hadn’t been smiling already, she wouldn’t have been able to stop one from forming.

His gray eyes had small flecks of gold around the outside. They seemed to pull her in, as if magnetic. His hair, what she could see of it, was almost as dark as hers, a more dark walnut than raven’s black. Topped with the biggest cowboy hat she had ever seen. It, too, was brown but a shade or two lighter than his hair. His voice was a deep, rich timbre that turned her knees to jelly, as he looked her in the eye. “Welcome to Sanctuary, Miss.”

She heard herself squeak out a hasty, “Thank You.”

Then, all the girls gathered around her from both coaches, as the wagon with their luggage moved on up the street to a two-story white building with a wraparound porch. The man noticed where she was looking. “That’s the boarding house for you ladies. Several of the town’s folk have offered to unload your luggage into the front parlor.”

She took a breath and looked back at the man. “Thank you, again.”

“You’re very welcome.”

Then the man seemed to shake himself a bit and stepped up onto the boardwalk in front of the stage office. Looked like he was in charge of the town’s side of things. She hoped he was looking for a wife and that none of these women were his intended.

~~~~~~

Joshua

Joshua helped each lady from the first coach out onto the street, with a hand and a simple welcome to Sanctuary. He saw the sheriff doing the same at the second coach. As he took the hand of the last woman in his coach, his heart did a flip.

Unlike the others, who had been looking all around, this lady looked him in the eye as he welcomed her and it mesmerized him. She had eyes the likes of which he had never seen before. They were violet, but next to the blue dress she was wearing; they looked almost lavender. Her hair was pinned up under a simple white sunbonnet, but a few strands had come undone and hung in a loose spiral alongside her face. They were the darkest black he had ever seen on someone who wasn’t an Indian.

Her small button nose complemented her archer’s bow-shaped lips that were the color of a sun-ripened cherry. She was gorgeous, but you could tell she didn’t know she was.

Her smile was genuine and went all the way to her eyes. Her voice sounded smooth as honey as she thanked him for his help. He knew her feet were on the ground and he should have let go of her hand, but his body didn’t seem to want to obey his brain. He finally got his fingers working so that they released her, just as she turned to watch the wagon of luggage move to the Bride House. “That’s the boarding house for you ladies. Some town folk have offered to unload your luggage into the front parlor of the boarding house.”