Madeline: Bride of Nebraska (American Mail-Order Bride 37) Read Free Page B

orders. “Jim, Silas…go fetch the sheriff. Meet us at Ben’s place.” He didn’t wait for the rest of the men, but spurred Shiloh into a full gallop as soon as he had finished speaking. He and his horse burst from the barn as though the hounds of hell were at their heels. For all Caleb knew, they were.
    Hank and the rest of the men followed Caleb from the barn. Every man knew where they were headed, but each had no clue what they would find when they got there. They hoped all that blood came from only an injury of some sort, but if that were the case, little George would not have come alone.
    *****
    Madeline watched the town of Bayard, Nebraska grow bigger as the train approached. Four days of travel on the train had left her feeling tired and dirty. She was grateful she had been able to stretch out in the berth at night, but sleep was elusive. Perhaps it was more the anticipation of her new venture in life that kept her awake, but she would be glad to be back on solid ground where the whole world didn’t shake, rock, and clack all day and all night long.
    The train pulled into the station a bit behind schedule. From what Madeline had heard on the train that was completely normal. In fact, they were a bit ahead of schedule compared to how late this train normally pulled in! She hoped her new husband understood how train schedules worked and would not mind the wait.
    She disembarked the train and immediately began looking around for Caleb. She only had the barest description which he had written in his ad he placed in the gazette, so she honestly had no clue who she was looking for. She hoped he would recognize her from her description or would have thought to bring a slate or sign with his name on it, or her name for that matter.
    Madeline stood in what she considered a high visibility location and waited for someone to approach her. She watched as families were reunited, as people came and went, and as the train pulled away. When she was the last person standing on the platform, her carpet bag at her feet and her steamer trunk behind her, she began to wonder if her fiancé had forgotten her all together.
    She sat on her trunk and waited for what felt like hours before picking up her carpet bag and walking to the ticket window. “Excuse me,” she asked the elderly gentleman at the window. “By any chance, did a Mr. Caleb Stark leave a message here for a Miss Madeline Nelson?”
    The man behind the counter reminded Madeline of a twitchy mouse, if said mouse had gray hair and a bushy handlebar mustache. He looked up from his paper and peered at her through his wire-rimmed spectacles. “Well, now…can’t say as he did.”
    Madeline’s brow furrowed in frustration. “Do you know Mr. Stark?”
    The old man appeared to consider that for a long moment. “Mr. Stark? Nope, can’t say that I do.”
    Madeline sighed. She should have known better than to believe that he would have actually come for her. Yet he had spent quite a bit of money on getting her there. “Thank you,” she said to the man before walking back to her trunk. It was far too heavy for her to lift alone, though there wasn’t much inside.
    She was looking down the street to see if there was a hotel or a boarding house nearby, when a wagon pulled up alongside her. She looked up to see a somewhat portly older woman staring down at her. It looked like the woman once had red hair, but it was now heavily streaked with white and silver.
    “Are you Miss Madeline Nelson?” the woman asked in a clipped tone.
    Madeline couldn’t tell if the woman was irritated with her for some reason or if it was her normal tone. She nodded in reply. “I am.”
    “Good. I’m Mrs. Young, the reverend’s wife. That your trunk?” she asked, nodding towards the steamer still on the platform behind Madeline.
    “It is,” Madeline replied, still uncertain about the woman, but relieved that at least someone had come for her.
    Mrs. Young applied the brake to the wagon,