A Bride in the Bargain (3 page)

She reread the ad. She’d always assumed the Washington Territory was a land of wild beasts and gold hunters. At least until she’d read Mr. Mercer’s pamphlet on the topic.

According to him, the Territory was a promised land where all of nature breathed purity and healthfulness. A land that possessed all the qualities and characteristics necessary to produce happy homes.

She hooked a tendril of hair behind her ear. She’d almost forgotten what a happy home was like. Almost.

She skimmed the
New York Tribune
article concerning Mr. Mercer’s mass exodus of women.

This is the grandest female excursion ever inaugurated and will no doubt be very beneficial in its results. Mr. Mercer seems like a whole-souled, honest man, and has no object in view than the good of the community of which he is an honored member.

The gurgling of a pot trying to throw off its lid penetrated Anna’s consciousness. Jumping from her stool, she gathered a corner of her apron and hurriedly lifted the lid off a batch of brilla soup.

The steam gave a great belch that smelled of turnips, thyme, and onion. Leaning back until the worst of it escaped, she stirred tonight’s first course for the occupants of Pitchawam House.

“Looks to be a hungry crowd,” Helen said, rushing through the door with a tray of empty mugs, her circular braids pinned against her round face and ears.

“Well, the brilla is ready,” Anna said. “So you can serve it while I finish up the mutton and potatoes.”

The girls worked in silence, the pings and clatters of their culinary operations a duet of soothing sounds. Finally, Helen lifted a tray of full soup bowls, then whisked back out the door.

Bending over a clear fire, Anna turned the cutlets. The door opened behind her.

“That was fast,” she said. “Is something wrong?”

When Helen didn’t respond, Anna glanced over her shoulder, then quickly straightened.

“Mr. Dantzler. We didn’t expect to see you until later this evening.”

Tugging on his jacket with one hand and smoothing his glossy brown hair with the other, he gave her a lazy smile. There was no question he was handsome. There wasn’t a prettier face or more striking physique in all of Granby. But he’d changed since returning home from the war. And Anna had no regard for the man he’d become.

“You can call me Hoke when we’re alone, Anna.”

She swallowed back her retort. It wouldn’t do any good and she didn’t want to burn the mutton. Still, she tried not to bend over quite so far when she returned her attention to the cutlets.

She finished flipping the meat, then hastened to a bowl of steaming potatoes and began to mash them.

“You’re looking rather flushed, my dear.” He strolled to her side and placed a heavy hand on her neck. “Perhaps you’d like to step out of this heat for a few minutes? Take in some fresh air?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” She strained against his hand.

Tightening his hold, he leaned in. “Don’t pull away from me when I touch you.” The stench of ale laced his breath.

She forced herself to remain calm. “I can’t mash the potatoes when you’re so close. I need more room.”

He pulled the bowl from her grasp and turned her toward him. “The potatoes can wait.”

“Perhaps, but what about your guests?” She lifted her gaze. “Will they be able to wait?”

His aqua-violet eyes fell to half-mast. “Mrs. Hamm can handle them.”

She banked the panic that began to crawl up her spine. Usually all she had to do was mention his patrons and he’d leave her alone.

“Just the same,” she said. “I’d best finish up.”

“I believe I’ll decide what is best. And I think that removing you from the heat of the kitchen would be best.” His attention strayed from her face to the frayed neckline of her bodice.

She took a step back, but he encircled her waist with his arm.

“Stop it!” she hissed, squirming and pushing against him.

“Marry me, Anna.” He buried his face in her neck, his hands groping.

“No!” Tucking her head, she dodged his lips but could not escape his foul breath or his hands. “I’ve told you. I’ve no intention of marrying you or anyone else. Not ever.”

“Fine!” he exploded, shoving her back against the table only to pin her there with his arms. “In fact, that’s even better. We’ll dispense with the formalities altogether.” He edged closer, sealing the distance between them. “Let’s go upstairs.”

“No!” She struggled and kicked but could not break his iron grip. “Move! Let me go!”

“I don’t think so, my dear.” Grabbing her waist, he pitched her over his shoulder, opened the door to the stairwell, and headed up the back stairs. The smell of burning meat was cut off at the slamming of the door behind them.

She pounded her fists against his back. “Put me down! I mean it, Hoke. Put me down this instant!”

He took the steps two at a time.

She screamed, but he threw her down on the halfway landing, cutting off her cry and knocking the breath from her.

“You want a fight, little girl, then that’s what you’ll get. You can scream all you want, but nobody can hear you while we’re in this stairwell, and even if they could, they wouldn’t do anything.”

She sucked in a great gulp of air, but before she could release another scream, he slammed a hand against her mouth.

“I’m through with these cat-and-mouse games. You need a husband. You have no family, no home, and when I’m through with you, you’ll have no options. You’re going to be my wife, so you might as well stop struggling.” He stretched out, pinning her beneath him. “You’ll enjoy it, pet. I’ll make sure of it.”

His sweaty hand smothered her. She managed to pull in some air through her nose, but it smelled of his alcohol-riddled breath. In an effort to calm him, she stilled, her heart thundering in her breast.

“That’s better. Now. I’m going to take my hand from your mouth. If you let out so much as a peep, I’ll have to hit you.”

Her eyes widened.

“Don’t think I won’t. You’ve lovely features and I’d hate to mar them, but I’ll not tolerate any insubordination.” He searched her face in the dim light. “Do you understand?”

She nodded.

He slowly peeled his hand away. “There. That’s a good girl. Now, we’re going to stand and walk up the rest of these stairs, then down the hall and to my chambers.”

“Don’t do this.”

Brushing some loose hair from her face, he smiled with tenderness. “Don’t worry, Anna. We’ll marry. But first, we’re going upstairs.” He paused. “Are you ready?”

Gathering her wits, she prayed for courage. “There’s something you should know before we proceed.”

He cocked an eyebrow.

“There is no question that you can hit me and force me to your will. You are bigger and stronger. But if you do, then you’d better never go to sleep.”

He frowned. “I beg your pardon?”

“I mean it, Hoke. If you do this, you’d better never, ever, not even once, close your eyes for a bit of rest. Because the moment you do, I’m going to slip down into the kitchen, get the meat hammer, come back to your chamber, and break your arm. Your right arm. The one you swing with.”

He blinked.

The door at the bottom of the stairs opened. “Anna? Where the devil are you? It’s time for the main course and the cutlets are burnt.”

“Let me up,” Anna whispered.

“Anna?” Helen placed a foot on the bottom step. “Are you up there?”

After a slight hesitation, Hoke rolled off her.

Scrambling to her feet, Anna rushed down the stairs, past Helen’s astonished face and straight out into the alley. Ignoring the icy slap of winter, she continued to run until she reached the tiny attic room she let at the Hadley House.

Anna yanked her carpetbag from underneath her bed, unbuckled the latch, and widened its mouth. It wouldn’t take long to pack. She’d sold everything of value she owned except her mother’s watch pin. All she had left was a spare dress, a second set of underclothes, her seashell collection, and her father’s letters.

She lifted the false bottom of the bag. The bound stack of correspondence she’d hidden was still in place. Slamming the divider down, she effectively shut the contents from her view, but not from her mind.

Every letter her father had sent was written on her heart. She laid her spare dress on the bed, placed several pouches of seashells in its center, then quickly rolled them up inside it. All the while, the closing line of her father’s final letter repeated itself in her mind like a mantra.

“Don’t you realize that when you and Leon argue and misbehave, the rebel bullets come closer to me? But if you and Leon are good, then God will take care of me and bring me home safely.”

Her behavior had been particularly reprehensible the day that letter had arrived. The horror she’d felt at its contents still ricocheted through her. She’d immediately promised God that she would change and had begged Him to bring Papa home.

He’d brought him home all right, in a big pine box. And no one but she and God knew her actions that day had killed him, just as surely as they had eventually killed her mother and little brother.

Cramming the dress into the bag, she gave no regard to its condition, then swiped up her underclothes. She may think Hoke despicable and without honor, but she didn’t wish him dead. And that’s exactly what would happen to him or anyone else if they got too close.

So she’d leave. She’d go to the Washington Territory and secure a position as a domestic, a schoolteacher, or a nanny. But she’d never marry and she’d never have children. The risk was simply too great.

Latching the bag, she touched her chest to be sure her watch pin was in place, then grabbed her cape. The stagecoach office was just up the road. She’d secure a ticket to Amherst. From there, she’d catch the Boston & Maine to New York City.

A corner of Anna’s cape whipped back, allowing the frigid New York wind to beat against her tattered woolen gown. Clenching the edges of her cape with one hand and her carpetbag with the other, she stopped in front of a modest brick building on West Street.

The markings on a square plaque next to the entrance were worn and difficult to read. The first numeral was either an eight or a nine. She squinted but couldn’t make out the second.

A mule-drawn dump cart full of coal crunched past on the snow and ice, pulling Anna’s attention to a sign across the street where the American Express Company’s deliverymen came and went.

When Ladies Or Children Are About To Cross The Street, As They Are Frequently Uncertain And Confused In Their Movements, TEAMS SHOULD BE BROUGHT TO A FULL STOP UNTIL ALL UNCERTAINTY IS REMOVED.

Anna looked up and down the walkway but saw no evidence of any women, and she certainly couldn’t imagine children in this part of town. Gone were the street vendors along with the carriages and sulkies carrying gaily dressed patrons about town. Instead, commercial vehicles, dray carts, and delivery sleds populated the streets, their drivers yelling out curses to both their animals and each other.

She turned her attention to the plaque once again, but with no more luck deciphering it than before. Still, building number 93 was next door. So this should be it. Placing her hand on the oversized doorknob, she pushed.

A gust of wind jerked the door from her hand and crashed it against the inside wall. Hurrying across the threshold, she dropped her bag and used both hands to close the door. Leaning against it, she pressed a hand against her frozen nose and tried to wiggle her toes.

The dim entryway led to a series of doors and a narrow staircase. The building wasn’t much warmer than the outdoors, but at least there was no wind. She blew onto her gloved hands, then rubbed them together.

“Hello?” Her breath produced a puff of condensation while her voice bounced off the silent walls. “Is anyone here?”

A muffled shuffling from down the hall was followed by the creaking of a poorly oiled door. A swath of light cut across the hall, illuminating the tall, thin man who stepped into it.

“May I help you?” he said.

She straightened, shaking the snow from her skirts and retrieving her bag. “Yes, please. I’m looking for Mr. A.S. Mercer.”