Cora's Pride (Wilderness Brides Book 1)

C
opyright
© 2016 by Peggy L Henderson

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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C
ora Miller is fiercely
independent and stubborn to a fault. Betrayed more than once by men she thought she could trust, she’s learned to rely only on herself. As the oldest of four siblings, she feels responsible for leading her family safely on the Oregon Trail.

Nathaniel Wilder is no stranger to the hardships and dangers of the wilderness. Raised with his brothers by a trapper in the remote mountains, he left behind the mistakes he’s made in the past. He’s been called reckless and irresponsible, but won’t hesitate to help someone in need.

A
foolhardy mishap
puts Nathaniel in the direct path of a stubborn, yet beautiful woman with fire in her eyes. Despite her refusal of help, he is determined to prove she can depend on him. When her pride puts her and her family in peril, Cora accepts that she can’t do it on her own. If misgivings can turn to trust, or even love, both Cora and Nathaniel could come out stronger in the end.

F
ort Laramie August
1852

“
H
e left
.”

Cora Miller straightened after dipping a rag in the pail of water at her feet. She wrung out the excess and held the cool cloth to her face. Despite the early morning chill in the air, her cheeks were flushed. Strands of her hair that had come loose from her braid whipped around her head and her skirts fluttered at her ankles with the relentless breeze. She glanced around camp, then faced Anna. Her hand wrapped tightly around the cloth as anger welled up in her, envisioning Ted’s throat between her fingers.

“What do you mean, he left?”

Anna Porter pulled her shawl around her shoulders and stared at Cora as if she’d spoken a foreign language. “How can he just leave?”

“That low-down, good-for-nothing scoundrel up and left,” Cora repeated. “I was tending the fire to fix breakfast when he saddled his horse and told me he was leaving.”

“Well, when’s he coming back? The wagon train is set to head out tomorrow,” Anna sputtered. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

Cora didn’t hold back her bitter laugh. It was better than crumbling to the ground and crying. “Apparently the fellas he met while gambling at the fort last night filled his head with nonsense about gold and California. He’s joined them to go mining.”

“But, what about heading to Oregon?” Anna shook her head, confusion in her eyes. “How can you be so calm about this? He’s your husband. What are we going to do now?”

Cora laughed again to cover the turmoil inside her. For the sake of her sisters and brother, and Anna, she had to remain calm. She was the oldest among her siblings and they all depended on her. It wouldn’t do to let them see her fears.

“I should have seen right through him back in Independence. He’s nothing but a cheat and a liar, and I’m glad to be rid of him.” She straightened her back and held her hand to her hip. “Do you know what he told me?”

Anna’s head moved slowly from side to side.

“He said our marriage wasn’t legal. The preacher he had marry us in Independence wasn’t really a preacher. The certificate is useless.” Cora lowered her head. “That low-down, lying, good-for-nothing . . . chiseler used me.”

She cleared her throat in response to the crack in her voice. A chill raced down her spine. She’d put her trust in a man who’d been no more than a stranger. He’d taken complete advantage of her.

Anna’s eyes widened even more. She shot a hasty glance all around, no doubt to see if anyone had overheard. The Schmidts’ wagon next to them was quiet. Normally, their three children would be running around by now, but apparently they were taking advantage of their last day of rest before the wagon train headed across the Platte to continue their journey west. Marybeth Schmidt had gone to the river to do some early-morning laundry.

Panic seeped into Anna’s eyes. “How are we going to get to Oregon without your husband? We’ll have to turn back.” Her lips trembled.

Cora grabbed her friend’s arms and shook her. “We’re going to go on as before.”

Her dreams of making a better life for her siblings were not going to end this way, stranded in the middle of nowhere. They’d all worked their farm without the help of a man before. They could get to Oregon without a man, too.

Anna laughed bitterly. “You have two sisters and a little brother, Cora, as well as me tagging along. How do you propose we all get to Oregon now? Not to mention, I’m not your sister like you told everyone?”

“I’m going to talk to Mr. Brown. He’s gonna have to let us continue on with the train. He can’t simply leave us here at Fort Laramie.”

Cora gritted her teeth. Truth be told, the wagon master would most likely do just that. He’d been reluctant already, ‘letting all these women without husbands join the train’, as he’d put it.

Ted had been her answer to get on the wagon train in Independence. He’d been handsome and charming, and he’d proposed marriage to her two days before the train set off for the Oregon Territory. Cora had agreed to the hasty wedding because there had been no other recourse. The wagon master had been adamant that no unmarried women were allowed on the train. Ted had been able to talk him into letting her sisters come along, since he’d taken over as the head of the family.

“For as long as I live, I will never trust another man,” she said between clenched teeth. She would have never married Ted if she hadn’t needed him to get to Oregon. Anna had lived with Cora’s family since her parents had died years ago, and she was practically a sister. It wasn’t much of a lie when she'd told everyone Anna was part of her family.

“Do the other girls know? And Patrick?”

Cora shook her head. “I haven’t told them, yet. I was going to go talk to Mr. Brown first.”

“What will we do if he says he won’t take us along?”

Anna liked to worry, but it made her the sensible one among them. Cora patted her friend’s hand and smiled to conceal her own apprehension. “You leave it to me. You know I’m not one to fret. It only takes time away from getting things done. One way or another, we’re going on to Oregon.” She paused, then added with a determined raise of her chin. “Without husbands.”

“That wagon master will try and marry us off to anyone who will take a wife. He’s already suggested it several times. He says it’s wrong for unwed women of age to be on this train. You and I are of age, and Caroline and Josie are close enough that he could very easily insist that they get married, too.”

Anna wrung her hands in front of her. No doubt, the thought that she would have to marry a stranger didn’t appeal to her, either.

Cora scoffed. “After my experience with Pa, and now Ted, you can rest assured that I have no plans to get married again any time soon and be at the mercy of some man.”

Anna smiled. “I admire your courage, Cora, but we may not have any other recourse.”

Cora pressed her lips together. She drew in a long breath. “If you’ll finish fixing breakfast, and have everyone help get the wash to the creek, I’m going to find Mr. Brown.”

With those words, she swept her unruly strands of hair out of her face and pushed aside her apprehension at meeting with the wagon master, then set out to find him. He sat, sipping coffee at the other end of camp. His booted foot was propped on a crate, his arm casually draped over his knee. He stopped talking with Mr. Melvin when she approached.

“May I have a word with you, Mr. Brown?” Cora raised her chin, clasping her hands in front of her to conceal their slight tremble. Her heart pounded in her chest, but she wasn’t going to show this man that she was nervous about this meeting.

A slow smile spread across the wagon master’s lips. He raised his coffee cup to his mouth and took a leisurely drink. He glanced at Mr. Melvin before looking her in the eye.

“What can I do for you, Mrs. Miller?”

Cora gritted her teeth. According to what Ted had told her an hour ago, she was as much Mrs. Miller as the wagon master in front of her. She’d use her maiden name again, once they were in Oregon. For now, it would do more harm than good to admit the marriage had been a sham.

“Ted decided to go ahead of us to Oregon,” she said quickly. “I assume that won’t present any problems tomorrow morning. My sisters and I are quite capable of driving our team.”

Mr. Brown raised his brows. He swallowed some more coffee, then stood straight.

“Your husband left, you mean?” It was more of a statement than a question. He laughed, first slowly, which quickly became louder.

“I don’t understand the humor in this,” Cora huffed, glaring at the wagon master. He was not going to intimidate her.

Mr. Brown removed his hat and ran a hand through his hair. “You know the rules, Mrs. Miller. No unwed women in my outfit.” He scratched the back of his neck. “If a few of your sisters, at least the older ones, can find a husband by morning, I don’t see why you can’t continue on. I hear that Andrew Harper is looking for a wife to tend to his brood, since his woman drowned last week. There are a few unwed men on this train, too, that wouldn’t mind hitching up with one of your sisters. You all are a sightly group of ladies.” He stepped closer, his eyes raking over her, openly appraising her. “You’re far too pretty to be traveling without a husband. I told you that in Independence, and I can’t be looking out for you.”

Cora raised her chin. She fought the impulse to move back to put some distance between herself and this man, but she stood her ground. If she didn’t stand up to him, how could she hope to fend off the single men in their wagon company? She pushed aside bitter memories of her home in Ohio, and part of the reason she’d chosen to head to Oregon. She glared at the man in front of her.

“And I told you in Independence that I can take care of myself and my family. We’re quite capable of handling our rig. My siblings and I tended a farm on our own in Ohio, without a man’s help. I have no intention of marrying my sisters off simply for the sake of having a husband on this journey.”

“Seems to me that’s what you done already by weddin’ up with Ted Miller. I guess you didn’t please him enough for him to stick around.” He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “Maybe if you’d spend some time with me, I’ll re-consider letting you come along.”

Cora’s hand tightened into a fist. Her fingers itched to slap the leer from the man’s face. She stepped away from him.

“How dare you even suggest such a thing,” she hissed.

He shook his head and gave a careless shrug of his shoulder. “Then I’m afraid you’ll have to stay here, and go back to Independence with the next group heading east.”

Mr. Brown handed his coffee mug to Mr. Melvin, who stood by with wide eyes, then tipped his hat to her and strode off.

Cora stared after him. “The nerve of that man,” she grumbled. Some choice swear words came to mind for men like him, but she held them in. Without a glance at Mr. Melvin, she stomped back to camp.

You can do this on your own, Cora. You relied on yourself back home, and you can do it here, too.

Patrick, the youngest of her siblings at eight years old, and the only boy, crawled out from under the wagon, rubbing at his eyes. He yawned, and stretched his hands in the air. Bacon sizzled in the frying pan over the fire while Anna whisked together a batter of biscuit dough.

“Gather your dirty clothes after you tend to the mules and the horse, Patrick.” Cora poured a cup of coffee. She usually didn’t drink the bitter brew, but she wasn’t going to let it go to waste. She’d been up early to get the kettle heated for Ted, as she had every morning since they'd begun their journey.

Patrick returned moments later with a puzzled look on his face. “One of our horses is missing,” he announced.

Cora glanced at her brother. Her heart thumped against her ribs. What if Ted had taken their other saddle horse as well? She wouldn’t put it past him.

“What about Gray?”

“He’s there with the mules.”

Cora breathed a sigh of relief. Ted had taken what little money he’d brought to the marriage, and had even been bold enough to ask her for some of her funds. Luckily, he’d never found her hiding place where she kept her family’s life savings. It was all they had now, and would have to see them through to their new start in Oregon.

He couldn’t have taken any of their provisions from the wagon. Josie and Caroline slept in there. She made a mental note that, before packing up for the journey tomorrow, she would check for any missing items, just to be sure. And, it was high time she practiced shooting her rifle.

“Once your sisters are back from washing at the river and we sit down for breakfast, I have something to tell you.”

Cora met Anna’s curious stare before smiling at her brother. No doubt she was full of questions about her meeting with Mr. Brown, but she kept her thoughts to herself for now. She’d have to tell her siblings the truth, that they were now on their own, but in a way that wouldn’t frighten them.

Anna served up biscuits and bacon when Josie and Caroline returned to camp. They all gathered around the fire, using various trunks or an overturned pail to sit on.

“Did Ted already eat?” Josie asked. She glanced from one person to the next. At sixteen, she was the youngest of the girls, and had the most reasons to be mistrustful of men. Cora glanced at her sister and her chest tightened painfully. Growing up, Josie had never failed to see the good in everything, but that had been before . . .

Cora swallowed her biscuit and washed it down with the last of her coffee. What had happened to Josie was one of the reasons they were leaving their old life behind. She looked at Josie, then at Caroline, before settling her eyes on Anna.

“We have a lot of work to do today. All the washing needs to get finished, and we have to repack the wagon. I’m going to see if I can trade a few things at the fort. We have to be ready first thing in the morning when Mr. Brown plans to head out.”

Caroline sighed. “It was nice to have a few days of rest.”

Cora smiled at her sister. “Yes, and now we have to keep moving, or we’ll never get to Oregon.”

She inhaled a deep breath. Good thing they’d had a few days to relax as they camped by the fort. Things were going to get a lot harder from now on.

Anna’s forehead wrinkled. “Did you have something to tell us, Cora?”

Cora frowned at her friend for forcing the subject she had been putting off. She was right, though. There was no sense delaying what she had to tell her siblings.

“I have some bad news,” she started. All eyes were instantly on her. “Ted decided he no longer wanted us as his family, so he rode off early this morning to head for California.” She raised her hand at the collective gasp from her sisters. Patrick’s eyes widened.

“We’re not going to let that stop us from going on to Oregon, however.” She smiled to ease everyone’s fears. “We have each other, and we’ve done just fine since leaving Independence. Without Ted, everyone has to pull some extra weight, but it’s not going to change anything else.”

The girls murmured and Anna stepped up to her. “Mr. Brown is letting us continue with the train?” she whispered.