Mail Order Madness (2 page)

Elizabeth was obviously awestruck.  “And beautiful.”
  The two girls stared at the house in awe for a minute.

“How’s my hair?”
Susan asked.

Elizabeth sighed.  “As good as it ever is.”  They both knew Susan’s long blond hair
hated to be confined in a bun.  There were always tendrils popping out of any hairdo
she tried to put it in.  There was nothing to do about it now, though. 
“Let’s go up.”

“Are you coming in with me?”

“If you want me to.”

“Oh, I do!  I don’t think I could knock on that door without you beside me.”  Susan
wasn’t shy, but there was something about the mansion in front of them that intimidated
her.  She didn’t really want to take her sister, but she didn’t feel like she could
do it alone.

“Let’s go then.”

The two sisters walked slowly up the sidewalk to the front door.  Susan reached out
and knocked three times, holding her breath as she waited for someone to come to the
door. 

It was answered within moments by a tall thin man with dark hair and eyes.  “May I
help you?”

Susan stared at him for a moment.  He seemed to fit in well with the home and she
couldn’t help but wonder if the owners had bought him as part of it.  Elizabeth elbowed
her in the side to get her to talk.  “I’m here to see Mrs. Long, please.”

The man seemed to take them in all at once.  His eyes dropped to the newspapers in
their hands and he gave a quick nod.  “Of course.  Mrs. Long is in her office.  If
you’d come this way?”  He led the way toward the back of a long elegant hallway. 

Susan wanted to pop her head into every room and see what was behind the closed doors. 
She’d seen houses like this before, but she’d never been inside one, and she found
she wanted to know everything about it. 

The man stopped at a door at the end of the hallway, and knocked once, before opening
the door.  “There are two young ladies here to see you, ma’am.”

Susan couldn’t see inside the room, but a soft musical voice responded.  “Thank you,
Higgins.  Would you bring some refreshments for us please?”

“Yes, of course.”  He held the door wide while the two girls found their way in and
closed it softly behind them.

Susan looked around the small room they were in.  There was a desk with an office
chair and a sofa as well as an overstuffed comfortable chair.  She felt they were
horribly underdressed and wished she had thought to go home and change before they
had gone there. 
She was still wearing the dirty dress she’d watched the children in, and although
she’d put her shoes and socks on before leaving the house, she knew her feet were
filthy from going barefoot all day even if the pretty lady before her didn’t.

Mrs. Long slowly got to her feet and limped the few steps toward the girls.  “I’m
Harriett Long.”  When Susan and Elizabeth just stared at her, she smiled and held
her hand out.  “And you are?”

Susan cleared her throat with embarrassment.  “I’m Susan Miller, and this is my sister,
Elizabeth.  We’ve come about your advertisement for mail order brides.”

Harriett looked between the two sisters.  “Have a seat.  Are both of you interested
in becoming brides?” 

Susan shook her head.  “No, just me.  Elizabeth is just here for moral support.”
  Susan squeezed her sister’s hand in silent thanks for going with her.

Harriett smiled as the girls finally sat down on the sofa and she returned to her
seat in front of the desk.  “Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself then, Susan? 
What makes you interested in becoming a mail order bride?”

“Honestly, it’s our home situation.”

Harriett’s brows drew together quickly.  “Are you mistreated by your parents?”

Susan let out a slight laugh.  “Oh, no.  It’s not that at all.  In fact, our parents
need to find a switch and start using it.  Often.”  She paused for a moment looking
at Elizabeth who was grinning at her.  “I’m the oldest of twelve children.  The oldest
four, Elizabeth and I and our two oldest brothers, Michael and Henry, were all strongly
disciplined from the beginning.  We were raised to take responsibility for our actions. 
After the four of us, mother just got tired, I think.”

“How so?”  Harriett’s eyes were on Susan’s and she was taking in every word the younger
woman said.  It was as if Susan were imparting important knowledge.

“Well, our younger siblings are….” She didn’t want to use the word hellions, but that
and
“
demon horde
”
were the only words that came to mind.  She bit her lip for a moment.

“Satan’s spawn.”  The words, loud and clear and unashamed, came from Elizabeth. 

Harriett choked back a laugh.  “That bad?”
  She picked up the cup of tea Higgins had brought to them and took a sip.

Susan nodded emphatically.  “Worse.  Anyway, I’ve got to get out of there.  My one
stipulation for a husband is he must not have any children.  If God curses me with
children of my own, I’ll raise them with a strict hand and a long switch.”
  She needed to get that out of the way to begin with.  She was not going to raise
some man’s problems.

Harriett smiled, ob
viously delighted by the honest
y of the young women sitting in front of her.  “How old are you, Susan?  I won’t send
out a woman younger than eighteen.”

“I was eighteen in March.”

“Well, let’s see then.”  Harriett turned to her desk and flipped through the different
letters there.  “No, he has children,” she mumbled.  She finally found a letter halfway
through her stack and read through it quickly.  “He’s the one I was looking for. 
I think Jesse Dailey is just the man you’re looking for.”  She handed the letter to
Susan for her to read.

Susan opened the letter and held it to where Elizabeth could read it along with her. 
It struck her that as much as she wanted to get away from
‘
the demon horde
’
she would miss Elizabeth just as much.  Elizabeth had always been more than a sister. 
She was her best friend.  She made a silent vow to tell her so before she left.

“Dear potential bride, My name is Jesse Dailey and I’m a newspaperman in
Fort
Worth, Texas.  I hope to be able to buy a ranch in the area soon, so I’m looking
for a bride who is willing to save every penny to help me toward that goal.  I’m not
sure what to tell you about myself, so I’m just going to ramble for a bit.  I’m tall
with dark hair and brown eyes.  I’ve lived in Texas my entire life, and grew up on
a ranch here.  I enjoy quiet walks in the country and reading.  I go to church every
Sunday.  I’m well-respected in town as a hard-hitting newspaperman who makes sure
he always tells the truth, even if it’s not what people want to hear.  I’m twenty-three
years old and have never married.  I enjoy a good home cooked meal, and would request
my bride be able to cook.  I’d like someone between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two. 
I’m looking forward to getting married and settling down.  All the best, Jesse.”

Susan smiled as she read he wanted someone who could cook.  She’d been cooking for
years and knew there would be no trouble there.  She certainly matched his requests. 
She looked up at Harriett.  “I’ll take him.”

Harriett laughed.  “He’s not just a man on the shelf that you can choose.  You need
to write him back and we’ll go from there.”  She handed Susan a pen, ink and paper. 
“Go ahead and write the letter now.  All correspondence needs to go through me.”

Susan took the pen and dipped it into the ink well.  What to write?  After a moment
of thinking, she put the pen to paper.  “Dear Jesse, My name is Susan Miller.  I live
on a small farm outside of Beckham, Massachusetts with my parents and my eleven younger
brothers and sisters.  I’m eighteen years old and I’m a good cook.  I’d love to cook
for just two people instead of fourteen.  I also enjoy long walks through the country
and reading books, although I rarely have free time to do either one.  I do not mind
living frugally, because it’s the only way I know.  I am of medium height and have
blond hair and
green eyes.  I’ve never been to Texas, but I’ve read about it some, and find it fascinating. 
I’d love to move there to be your bride.”  Susan set the pen down and read the letter
aloud, making sure Mrs. Long approved of what she’d written. 

Harriett nodded.  “That’s perfect.  Sign it, and I’ll send it off with the morning’s
mail.”

Susan quickly signed her name to the bottom and handed the unfolded paper to the older
woman.  “Now what?”

“Come see me in about a month to see what he says.  If he decides you’re the one he
wants, he’ll send you some money for the trip to Texas, and a train ticket.”

“Sounds good.”  Susan stood up, realizing she hadn’t touched the tea and cookies Higgins
had brought in while she was working on her letter.  She grabbed a cookie from the
plate.  “Thank you so much.”  She held her hand out to Mrs. Long.  “I’ll see you in
about a month, I guess.”

Harriett got to her feet slowly.  “I look forward to it.”  She smiled at Elizabeth. 
“It was nice meeting you, Elizabeth.”  She walked the two sisters to the front door
and watched them walk away, smiling to herself.

*****

One month later, Susan knocked on Harriett’s door.  She’d had to sneak away from the
farm to come into town, because her younger siblings would have begged to come with
her.  She could just imagine the mischief they would get into in a house like Mrs.
Long’s. 
There would be nothing left but rubble
, she thought.

Higgins answered the door promptly.  “Come right in.”  He opened the door wide and
led her to the office again.  He knocked once and opened the office door.  “Miss Miller
is here to see you, Ma’am.  I’ll get some refreshments.”  He closed the door softly
behind him.

Harriett got to her feet and smiled as Susan walked in.  Susan couldn’t help but wonder
what had happened to the older woman to make her move so slowly.  She obviously had
an injured leg, but
how had it been injured?  She’d been taught not to ask such things, but she certainly
wanted to.

Harriett waved to the sofa.  “Have a seat.  Your letter came just this morning, so
this is good timing.”  Once Susan was seated, Harriett handed her the letter.  “I
didn’t open it, because it’s addressed to you.”
  She turned away to look through some papers on her desk and to give Susan a bit
of privacy with her letter.

Susan took a deep breath before opening the letter.  She desperately wanted there
to be a train ticket inside.  As soon as she opened it, a train ticket, a check and
some cash fell out.  She smiled, knowing he wanted her.  She picked up the check,
which was made out to Mrs. Harriett Long, and handed it to her.  She picked up the
cash and showed Harriett.  “Is this for me to keep?”

Harriett nodded.  “It’s for any expenses you may have.  Your train ride will be a
long one, so you’ll want to keep at least half of that for food on the train.  The
rest you can use for clothes or
anything else you may need
.”  She paused for a moment.  “What’s the date on the ticket?”

Susan looked down to check.  “I leave July
twenty eighth
.  That’s a Monday, right?”

Harriett checked her calendar.  “It is.  That gives you ten days.  Do you think you
can get clothes made in time?”

Susan thought about it.  “If Elizabeth and I ignore all the kids, we can probably
get a couple of dresses made.  Do I need a formal wedding dress?”

“I usually say ‘yes’ to that.  See if he mentioned the wedding in his letter.”
  Harriett indicated the letter in the younger woman’s hand.

Susan looked down and laughed at herself.  She’d been so excited about the train ticket
she hadn’t bothered to read the letter.  “I guess I should read it, shouldn’t I?”

Harriett grinned.  “I know you’re excited to get away, so I won’t say anything.”

“Dear Susan, I’m so excited you answered my letter.  You sound like you’re going to
fill the missing space in my life perfectly.  I’ve enclosed a train ticket for Monday,
July
twenty eighth
.  I will be waiting for you at the train station in
Fort
Worth on Wednesday
,
August
sixth
.  I’ll carry a sign with your name on it, so you’ll know immediately who I am.  I’m
not going to subject you to a big wedding after your long trip, so I will arrange
for us to marry at the courthouse with just my brother and his children present. 
I hope that meets with your approval.  If it’s a problem, you can let me know when
you get here, and we’ll make other arrangements.  I can’t wait to meet you.  Yours,
Jesse.”

“He said we’d just marry at the courthouse.  I think
I’ll just make a new Sunday dress.  That’s
better than spending a lot of money on a gown I’ll only wear one time.”

Harriett nodded.  “May I read the letter?”

Susan didn’t feel any real attachment for Jesse, and he hadn’t put anything private
in the letter, so she readily agreed, handing it to Harriett.