Chapter Three
“Hannah?”
Twenty-one-year-old Hannah’s ice blue eyes shifted up from her six-year-old sister, Rebecca’s sleeping face, and met Louis’s.
He was the youngest of the boys at seven, as Rebecca was the youngest of the girls.
She smiled through her fatigue, and ignored the stinging needles in her arms and hands as she kept a tight hold on Rebecca.
It had taken her ages to get her to sleep, and Hannah was doing her best to keep her that way until they reached Twin Rivers in another half-hour.
“Yes, Louis?” She asked quietly.
“I’m sorry Aunt Gertrude changed her mind,” Louis said, his small voice sounding close to tears.
Hannah’s shoulders slumped as her brows lifted in remorse, and she shook her head. From their other side of the stage coach, fifteen-year-old Isaac and thirteen-year-old Jacob both turned their heads away from the window to look at her; each with a look of guilt on their young faces.
“No, no, do not be sorry,” Hannah gently insisted, looking from Louis to Jacob to Isaac, “That is not your fault and don’t think for a second that is.”
By her side, nine-year-old Maria sat up and glared over at Jacob.
“Yes, it is,” she said accusingly, “If you weren’t so bad all the time, Aunt Gertrude wouldn’t have changed her mind.”
“Maria!” Hannah scolded.
“It’s true!” Maria said, louder this time. “She was all set to take the boys but then Jacob had to put that dead cockroach in her cot.”
Isaac and Louis shot accusing stares at Jacob, who only scowled as he crossed his arms and looked out the window again.
Around them, the other passengers of the stage coach shot them dirty looks, and Hannah dipped her head in shame.
Sometimes it was hard keeping her siblings in line, and the looks she’d received from the other passengers made her feel as if she was failing constantly.
“It does not matter,” Hannah insisted, looking each of her three other siblings in the eyes. “I hated that plan anyway. I didn’t want us to split up. I love you, all of you, and it’s better this way anyhow.”
Isaac shook his shaggy head of raven black hair, the same color as Hannah’s that she wore in a long, loose braid over her shoulder.
“You don’t know that,” the oldest boy replied solemnly. “You told your beau you were only bringing Rebecca and Maria. You think he’s just going to shrug and smile when he sees you’ve got not just them but three boys in tow, too?”
Hannah let out an exasperated sigh as her long, black lashes closed, and she willed herself to take a calming breath.
The long stage coach ride from Michigan to Texas had been strenuous and uncomfortable for everyone, but that morning they’d finally settled into a bit of peace.
She was foolish to think it would last all the way to Twin Rivers.
She truly had hated the idea of splitting her and her siblings up.
With their father wanting nothing to do with them shortly after Rebecca was born, Hannah had helped their loving mother, Abigail, raise them all.
It was hard most of the time, but Hannah had always thought it was worth it.
Besides, their mother was a great one, and dedicated as much time as she could to her children when she wasn’t working at the sewing factory.
“Jacob, quit picking at me!” Maria whined, pulling Hannah out of her memories.
“Jacob, please, quit tugging at Maria’s hair, she did nothing to you,” Hannah pleaded.
“Yeah, Jacob, leave her alone,” Isaac added, pulling Jacob back into his seat. “Here, help Louis try to count tumbleweeds.”
“Oh, what fun,” Jacob murmured boredly. Even so, he turned back to the window with his little brother, and together they started counting tumbleweeds aloud.
The bickering was over for at least the moment.
Hannah rested her head against the seat and let her thoughts drift back to her past. Tragedy had struck two years ago when an awful accident occurred at the factory, claiming not only their mother but two other women who had worked there.
For nineteen years Hannah had had her mother to lean on when she was feeling overwhelmed, and then in one single moment, she was gone.
Leaving Hannah to take on the responsibility of keeping their family together alone.
Though their extended family and even their father came to pay their respects at the funeral, Hannah quickly and sadly realized that none of them wanted to help.
Though, to her surprise, their father had awkwardly handed her a small envelope of money after the services.
It hadn’t been much, but it bought them some time to figure something out.
Then great-aunt Gertrude had arrived in town, and for a brief moment in time, Hannah thought she could believe in blessings.
In the last year, Aunt Gertrude had not only moved into their town but had also become a great help to Hannah.
Though she wasn’t able to contribute financially, she had been able to lend an extra set of eyes and hands to watch over the younger ones.
It not only allowed Hannah to take on extra shifts at her work, but had also given her enough time to start writing to Garrett Mercer, who’d placed a mail-order bride ad in the paper she’d found in the hotel’s waste basket.
She’d been hesitant at first. The idea of marrying a man after receiving a single letter seemed…
impersonal. However, she’d liked the way he’d worded his ad.
It was so different than the others. Then in his first letter back to her, Garrett had expressed that he was in no great rush, and thus they began a friendship of sorts through the United States Postal Service.
Romance, she thought in her very few quiet moments alone, could maybe someday be a possibility for them, but at the very least, she could marry someone she could at least consider a friend.
His letters made her laugh. In them he was warm and understanding, too, which gave her the sense of safety she’d been craving.
When he’d asked her to marry him in his last letter, she’d felt a well of emotion that she still could not identify as excitement or anxiety, but wanting a fresh start, a companion she could lean on and not just take care of, and more open space for her siblings to roam, she accepted.
When she’d told Aunt Gertrude about the proposal, the great-aunt had offered to take the boys, stating that men did not like the competition of other men, even if they were relatives.
Hannah balked at the thought of marrying someone like that, but Isaac encouraged the idea, telling her that the situation would be temporary.
He would help Aunt Gertrude take care of Jacob and Louis until he was eighteen and then get his own place in the town to raise them.
He’d already completed school, being the smart, mature young man as he was, and had already started saving money from his job on the docks.
It was pennies, but it was at least something.
She’d said no immediately, not wanting him to take on such heavy responsibility at such a young age, but Isaac had pointed out that she’d done the same thing, and that it was her turn to have a life of her own.
Eventually, despite still being uncomfortable with the idea of splitting her siblings up, Hannah had agreed, and together she, Isaac, and Aunt Gertrude had made the announcement to the rest of the children.
Jacob had rebelled against the idea immediately and Louis had cried.
She’d wanted to change her mind right then and there, but Isaac had insisted that the boys just needed time to adjust.
Hannah looked presently over at her second youngest brother. Even as he patiently counted with Louis, there was a scowl on his face, one that had been there since Hannah said she was going to be leaving.
Isaac had been very wrong about Jacob changing his mind.
The moment Jacob had moved in with Aunt Gertrude, he’d let his rebellious side truly shine.
He’d skipped school, refused to listen to Aunt Gertrude or even Isaac, and started playing nasty tricks.
The last straw for Aunt Gertrude had been the dead roaches in her bed, which would have been a horror to anyone but particularly for her since she had a penchant for keeping a particularly clean home.
That was when she had come to Hannah with the boys in tow, and with tears in her eyes, told her that she was far too old to be raising children all over again.
Hannah had been dismayed, only because she and the girls were leaving in two days for Twin Rivers and had no time to get word to Garrett with their change in plans.
Now, she only hoped that when she showed up with five children instead of two, Garrett’s heart would be big enough for all of them.
“Hannah?” Isaac called to her softly.
She looked up again, realizing that she had yet to answer the question he’d posed to her several minutes ago. She sighed; so exhausted and hungry that she couldn’t keep her thoughts straight.
“Sorry,” she said with a weak smile, “I drifted away there for a moment.”
“I do not know what he is going to say or think,” Hannah confessed, darting her gaze from Isaac to the four other children, then back to him, “But we will find out soon enough.”
The hardness in Isaac’s eyes softened, and he reached out to touch Hannah’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry, sis. I’ll help. In any way I can. Whether it’s with the kids or his ranch. I’ll make him see that you’re worth it. Because you are.”
Touched by her brother’s words, she reached up and patted the hand he had on her shoulder.
“Mama would be so proud of you,” she whispered.
Isaac huffed as Jacob glanced at her with guilt-filled eyes. Louis bowed his head at the mention of their mother, and Maria burrowed closer to Hannah’s side.
“Everything is going to work out fine,” Hannah said, hoping to break up the suddenly somber moment. “Just you see. Garrett’s going to love all of you.”