Chapter 7

Samuel was already in town telling everybody that his daughter was getting married when Daniel picked Esther up in his wagon.

After his barn was built, he had put his wagon inside it to secretly strip off all the modern extras. He converted it into a smaller, standard-sized carry wagon that his horses could easily pull. He reused the canvas cover on his house roof.

Daniel drove toward the creek. He pulled off the side of the road and led Esther toward a flat area that overlooked the river. He laid out a blanket made from a quality she never saw before. He pulled food from the picnic basket and spread it out.

Instead of normal 1880 food, for this special picnic, he opened canned and dried foods that would not be made for a hundred plus years. He had tuna, relish, party Chex Mix, Keebler chocolate chip cookies, and rolls. To drink, he brought apple juice. Esther loved all the new flavors especially the cookies.

Daniel was a changed man. He saw Esther as his young bride-to-be. His heart and mind lived in 1880. She was not an underage girl or "jailbait". Those words had no meaning to him anymore. She was his future wife and she may be thirteen, but that was how life was in this day. He was Daniel Sanders, settler. His personal past no longer existed.

Daniel packed up the remains in the basket. He pulled a wrapped piece of cloth out of the basket and set it in his lap. He sat cross-legged and faced her. He took her hands in his.

"Esther Byrd," he said. His tone was serious and respectful. "Will you marry me?"

She became bashful. "You know my father said it was okay."

"I am not marrying your father. It is what you want that is important to me. Do you want to marry me?"

"Yes," she said with a big smile.

Daniel leaned in to kiss her.

"Hey," she said, swatting his shoulder. "We're not married yet."

No kissing before the wedding? There were still things a twenty-first century man needed to learn.

"Would you like to see the wedding ring I have for you?"

"I get a ring!" she said in shock.

Daniel knew very few married women wore a wedding ring because most couples could not afford one. He pulled out the ring. It was the ring Mandy wore. The ring was too big but in a few years it would fit Esther better. He pulled out a gold chain necklace.

"You can wear the ring on this chain around your neck until it fits your finger."

He slipped the ring on the necklace and fastened it around her neck. The ring slipped into her cleavage. He stared and fantasized about the future when he would enjoy her young breasts.

Esther pulled the ring up and looked at it. "It's beautiful." She cried more tears of joy.

"And this is the ring I will wear," he said as he pulled his original wedding ring out. "It will symbolize forever my bond to you."

She cried more.

"I love you, Esther."

"I love you, Daniel."

Three weeks later, most of the men got drunk at the big party in town, as the Reverend joined a man and woman in holy matrimony and they became Daniel and Esther Sanders. Daniel eagerly wanted to go home and make love to his new bride, but the partygoers demanded the couples' attention. They dared not refuse the revelers or they risked the chance of an interruption during their first physical union.

Late that night, Daniel and Esther finally traversed home. Esther fell asleep on the journey. He carried her in to their home and placed her on the bed. The bed was just a hard wooden frame without a mattress. Daniel arrived in Green River with many warm blankets, so the bed was comfortable enough. Daniel left her dressed and covered her with the blankets. He slipped into bed fully clothed. He wanted to be naked, but he was uncertain of her knowledge about sexual relations, so he did not want to scare her. He did this despite the hardest and biggest erection since his first wedding night.

Daniel awoke before Esther. He quietly undressed and put on a heavy terry cloth robe which was something else she never saw. He wished he had brought some of Mandy's clothes for Esther to wear when she was older, but when he left Timetown he had no thought of ever marrying again. Now his life was truly started over.

He made biscuits on the 1880s stove he purchased then he started the fireplace. He spent hours chopping firewood over the last month because winter was just around the corner. His house was much better insulated than normal houses, but a Minnesota winter was still very cold.

Daniel waited as long as he could but by nine o'clock she was still asleep. His loins ached. He needed to make love to his wife.

"Wakey, wakey," he said gently as he softly rocked her.

Esther stirred and her eyes fluttered open. She was momentarily disoriented. She was in a strange bed in a strange house. She saw Daniel and smiled.

"Good morning, Mrs. Sanders. A biscuit?" He presented it to her.

She liked the sound of her name. She sat up in bed and was surprised that she was still in her wedding clothes.

"You fell asleep on the ride home," Daniel explained.

She took a biscuit. "Sorry."

"You were tired. I was simply happy that I got to bring you home here instead of dropping you off at your Papa's home."

Esther smiled. He always had the right words to say.

She bit into the biscuit. It was not very good. "I should have cooked for you."

"You are my wife not my servant."

He sat on the bed next to her. He lightly placed a hand on her dress at her leg. He was amazed how very nervous he felt.

"What do you know... ?" he started. How should he say it? Should he be direct or not? "What do you know about a husband and wife being physically together ... sexually."

"I've seen my Mama and Papa do it and my Mama talked to me about it last week."

Daniel was pleased to hear that. In these small cabins, the kids can't help but see the parents go at it. It sounded initially disturbing, but then again that was life in this day.

"Do you want to do it now?" she asked.

"Yes. Don't you?"

"Yes, but I am a little scared."

"I will be gentle."

"I know you will," she said with a loving smile.

He took the biscuit from her, leaned in and kissed her lips. He kissed her cheek and along her jawline. He returned to her lips and she responded this time by kissing back.

Esther let Daniel undress her. He lay naked on top of her naked body between her open legs. He kissed and sucked on her tits. His body slowly slid down hers and he kissed his way south onto her belly.