Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
With their early morning departure, it already seemed a long day when Tommy and Minnie crested the hill of Gretna Green, passing a weathered wooden sign noting the history of the place.
Yet Tommy grinned as they approached the storied blacksmith's shop, its stone walls weathered but sturdy. The ringing of a hammer on an anvil could be heard from inside – a fitting background for their impending nuptials.
Minnie gripped his arm tightly as they neared the entrance. Her face held a mix of apprehension and excitement, her cheeks pink from the brisk Scottish air.
Tommy took in the determined set of her delicate jaw, the way the afternoon sun brought out the gold in her blonde curls. He had noted how she had hesitated on the train when they had first entered the car, when she had likely finally realized just how much her life was about to change.
Yet she didn’t back down. She didn’t turn around and run down the stairs of the train, nor cry off from the idea of marriage to him. Instead, she had continued walking onto the train, and had soon made friends with the people sitting around them as though it was where she belonged.
He supposed she did now.
He was in awe of this woman, the most beautiful he had ever seen, and, by some miracle, she had agreed to be his wife, even if it was to escape an unwanted fate.
She might never return his feelings, but he vowed then and there that he would do everything in his power to keep her safe. Protected. Treasured.
"This is it," he said, injecting more confidence than he felt into his voice. "Are you ready?"
Minnie met his gaze, her blue eyes shining with a mix of emotions he couldn't quite name. "As ready as I'll ever be. Let's do this."
Hand in hand, they stepped through the heavy wooden door and into the dim interior of the blacksmith shop.
The blacksmith, a burly man with kind eyes and a knowing smile, stood in front of the fire, in much the same stance Tommy often found himself in. He greeted them warmly when they walked in.
"Welcome! Let me guess. Looking to get married, are you?” he asked with a knowing smile.
Tommy nodded, suddenly tongue-tied with emotion. This was actually happening. Minnie squeezed his hand reassuringly.
“Yes sir,” Tommy said, finally finding his voice. “If you’d be willing.”
"I'm always willing to help young love," the blacksmith said, winking at Minnie.
“Tommy is a blacksmith himself,” Minnie supplied, squeezing his arm with her other hand.
“Are you, now?” the blacksmith said, his eyes glinting with considerably more interest. “Whereabouts?”
“Manchester.”
“I see,” he said, nodding as he looked from one of them to the other. “Are you returning there once you’re wed?”
“That’s the plan,” Tommy said, suddenly nervous, as he hadn’t thought of after the marriage. Would it be smartest not to return? Would they face any consequences from Mr. Draper once he had discovered what they’d done? But how could he possibly leave his family? His work?
Minnie looked up at him with concern, obviously reading his emotion, but he shook his head and returned to the task at hand.
“Do you have time to marry us now?” Tommy asked. “Or should we return later?”
“Now?” the blacksmith said, raising his brows. “Usually, we plan these things a few weeks ahead, but luckily for you, today’s a slow day. We just have to take care of some particulars.”
He crossed the room and picked up a large ledger book, donning reading glasses before opening it up to a page within. “Now, where have you been staying?”
Minnie and Tommy exchanged a glance.
“At the main inn in town,” Tommy said.
“Do you have a record of your payment?” the blacksmith said, his brow furrowing as he must have realized that all was not what it should be.
“Ah, no, unfortunately, I forgot it,” Tommy said, and the blacksmith sighed as he closed his book.
“Listen, son, I’ve been here at this shop for a good many years and I always loved the romance that came with the runaway weddings. But I can’t do that anymore. You have to have resided in the parish for twenty-one days before I can marry you.”
Tommy saw Minnie’s face drop, but he kept a grasp on the hope that remained.
“I understand,” he said. “Laws are laws. Our situation is rather… unfortunate. If you had time to marry us, do you have time for a story?”
“If you don’t mind if I do a bit of work while you tell it.”
“Of course.”
The blacksmith turned back to his forge, and Tommy gave Minnie a wink, hoping to lift her spirits, before he joined the blacksmith, taking the next piece of metal and beginning to help.
“What’s your name?”
“Murdoch.”
“Murdoch. I’ll tell this as quickly as I can.”
And he did, not leaving out a detail. By the time he had finished, Murdoch had put down his tools and was staring at him incredulously.
“And you love each other?”
“We do,” Tommy answered, the one fib he had told. Murdoch scratched his beard.
“I might be able to help you out,” he said, walking over to the side of the room and picking up two pieces of paper. He wrote out a long message on one, folded it, and then wrote a name and address on it and passed it to Tommy.
“My sister, Anne, lets the guesthouse behind her house. Go and see her and give her the other note. If she agrees, then have her accompany you back here in a couple of hours.”
“Thank you, Murdoch,” Tommy said, rushing to the door with Minnie at his side.
Murdoch nodded, and Tommy took Minnie’s hand as he followed Murdoch’s directions, soon finding themselves at a house painted a bright yellow, covered in flowers in a beautiful rainbow of color. Minnie was so tired she took a seat on the wooden swing outside the front door while Tommy knocked on it.
Soon enough, a woman appeared, one who looked a great deal like the blacksmith, although without the beard, and she gave them a warm welcome as she opened the door wider and led them into the house, asking them to sit in chairs before the fire in a small parlor.
“Are you here about the room?” she asked.
“In a sense,” Tommy said. “Murdoch sent us. He asked me to give you this.”
He passed her the paper, and she took it without surprise, reading over it quickly. When she finished, she studied them as though assessing whether they were worthy before finally nodding.
“Very well,” she said. “Let me draw up the papers then find my husband and we’ll be quick about it.”
When she disappeared, Minnie moved closer to Tommy’s side.
“What does this mean?” she whispered.
“I think it means she’s willing to lie about how long we have stayed here,” he whispered back in wonderment.
When she returned, a gruff, silent man who only grunted his welcome beside her, Minnie and Tommy were standing, ready and waiting before they all made their way back to the blacksmith shop, Minnie’s hand squeezed tightly in Tommy’s.
“There you are again,” Murdoch greeted them once they returned. “Although with two witnesses. Are we ready to do this?”
Tommy caught Minnie’s gaze, reading with gratitude the trust within it as she nodded at him.
“Very good,” Murdoch said. “It will only take a minute.”
As Tommy grasped Minnie's small hand in his work-roughened one, a sense of rightness stole through him. Holding her felt like coming home, as did this place where they would be married, a place that should have been completely unromantic and yet had become the opposite.
The blacksmith ushered them to the anvil, its surface surprisingly clean. He handed them each a thin metal band, still warm from the forge. "Just made these for you. These will serve as your wedding rings. Clasp hands over the anvil and repeat after me..."
As Tommy gazed into Minnie's shining blue eyes, the rest of the world fell away. The blacksmith's words washed over him as he repeated the words, reciting the vows that were simple yet to the point.
"I, Tommy Ward, take you, Minnie Draper, to be my wedded wife. I promise to love, honor, and cherish you, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, till death us do part."
His voice shook slightly, but the sincerity rang true. Minnie's answering vows were soft but steady, her gaze never leaving his.
"With this ring, I thee wed," they murmured in unison, slipping the bands onto each other's fingers. The metal was a comforting weight, a tangible symbol of how they were now tied to one another.
"I now pronounce you man and wife!" the blacksmith declared jovially.
Minnie looked up at Tommy, wide-eyed, as she whispered, "We did it, Tommy. We're married." Wonder and a hint of trepidation colored her tone.
He rested his forehead against hers. "Aye, that we are, Mrs. Ward. And I swear I'll do everything in my power to be the husband you deserve. This is only the beginning of our adventure together."
“Congratulations,” the blacksmith said. “And best of luck from all you’re running from. Your marriage will be registered with the parish tomorrow. There’s no breaking it after that.”
With a thank you and a farewell to the blacksmith, who handed them the certificate showing their marriage to be genuine, they joined hands and stepped out into the late afternoon sun as husband and wife.
Tommy had never been much of a planner – he usually didn’t think much further ahead than the few moments before him.
Now that he had seen his immediate plans through, he realized it was time to figure out where they went from here.
They had a return ticket, but he wondered what Minnie would think about his small set of rooms above the blacksmith shop, about the hours he worked, and the amount of time he spent playing football.
There was also the small matter of how her family was going to react.
The concerns washed over him, and he looked over at Minnie, about to share them with her, but then he caught her expression.
Her head was tilted back, her face open to the sun and sky above her. She looked… at peace. Which made the future not matter any longer. All that mattered was that she was happy. Free. Safe.
The rest would figure itself out.
At least, he hoped it would.