Mail Order Maggie (Chapman Mail Order Brides by Kate Whitsby

Author:Kate Whitsby
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mail order bride old west romance, mail order bride western romance, mail order bride romance story, mail order brides of the old west, mail order brides western romance
Publisher: Gold Crown

Chapter Nine

When she woke up the next morning, the first thing Maggie saw was Marion and Melody sitting side by side on Melody’s bed. They sat so close together that their arms and legs touched each other. Marion whispered something into Melody’s ear.

Maggie couldn’t hear if Melody whispered back. Maybe Marion and Melody talked to each other all along. Maybe they whispered to each other in private moments and stole snatches of conversation when no one else was around. Maybe this business about Melody not talking was nothing more than a ruse the two women perpetuated for reasons of their own.

She continued to watch them unobserved, until they got up and moved off.

Maggie felt the same chill between herself and her fellow brides that kept her isolated from them before they got sick. They forgot all about her trouble and sacrifice during their illness. They didn’t care if she could run the homestead single-handedly. The last two weeks might as well never have happened. She regretted she ever wasted the effort.

She waited a sufficiently appropriate time before pretending to stir in her sleep and wake up. She kept her distance from the two other women all morning. After breakfast, she slipped outside to take a walk by herself.

She followed the creek up the mountain. She’d made a habit of dawdling on her way up to the alder and willow patches where she collected the plants for Prescott’s medicines. She’d miss the walk up here and the quiet voices in the heart of the forest almost as much as she’d miss caring for Prescott himself

She kept going until she reached the little pool where Marion told her to collect the alder saplings. When she saw a person sitting on the log where she liked to rest and daydream, she almost turned and walked away. But she persisted until she saw who it was.

“What are you doing here?” Prescott asked.

“I just came out for a little peace and quiet,” she answered. “I can’t get any time to myself around the cabin.”

He smiled. “I know what you mean. It’s the same in the barn.”

“I didn’t know you came up here,” she continued.

“I like coming up here to be alone,” he told her. “I sort of think of this as my own private spot. Paul and Parker don’t come up here. They go the other way toward the river.”

“It’s a very nice spot,” she remarked.

“How did you find it?” he asked.

“Marion told me about it,” Maggie replied. “After you were hurt, she sent Melody up here to get the alder we used for your medicines. After you got sick and I took over caring for you, she sent me up here to get them. She also told me I could find the willow for your pain tonic here.”

Prescott nodded. “I thought it might be her. I brought her up here once. I thought this could be our own place to come, as husband and wife, to talk about things together. Before that, no one but me ever came up here.

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