Chapter 15
Marta was very nervous about being in Denver.
She was met by a member of the Teacher’s College and taken to the women’s dorm.
They had one for the women and one for the men who were studying to be teachers.
The living dorms were very close to where they went to classes.
This was good when the snows came and they could still get to classes to still continue their studies.
It took them nine months of continuous classes to become teachers.
Marta hoped to be eligible for when the schools opened in September in Sheridan.
She just had to pass all the tests they put in front of her.
She had always been home schooled with her mother; she had never attended classes with other students.
She was worried that she would be behind the others.
She was taken to her room by the member who met her.
It wasn’t very large…it held a small bed, a desk, a dresser, and a closet to hang up her dresses and her coat.
She put her clothes away and put her paper and pencils on the desk.
She also made up her bed with her sheets, blanket, and quilt.
It made it feel more like home. There was a hesitant knock on her door.
She opened it to find two other young women there.
“Hello, we’ve just arrived, too. My name is Darcy and this is Lynn. We wanted to introduce ourselves and hope to become friends. We’re very nervous about starting classes tomorrow. I’m from Sacramento and Lynn is from Cheyenne.” Darcy told her and smiled.
“My name is Marta. I’m from a ranch outside of Sheridan in the Wyoming Territory. I’m scared and nervous, too. I was home schooled and I’ve never been in a classroom before. I’m worried that I’ll be behind everyone else.” Marta told them quietly.
“My mother home schooled me, too, until they built a school in Cheyenne. I found out that I was ahead of most of the others when I went to school. You are so pretty! I’m envious of your hair, it’s so shiny and soft.” Lynn told her and grinned. Unfortunately, Lynn’s hair was very curly and red.
“I’ve always liked red hair. One of my friends has auburn hair, and his is curly like yours.
His name is Brody. I’ll have to introduce the two of you sometime.
Darcy, I have a friend named Carson that would love your blonde hair.
He has hair that has blonde tints from being outside so much.
The sun actually bleaches it.” Marta told them and smiled thinking how much they would please the men she had met back in Sheridan.
“Marta are you a matchmaker?” Darcy asked her with a mischievous smile.
“Not at all…well maybe a little. Carson lived next door to us, and he kept coming over to try and court me. I liked him as a friend, but there was no spark between us. I hated to keep telling him no, but I look at Darcy and I think the two of you would really hit it off. I lived with the Harper family on a ranch. They had two sons, the older son and I really hit it off, his name is Grady…he’s a U.S Marshal and is gone all the time.
But his younger brother ranches with his father.
Brody and I became really good friends, he’s the one with auburn hair.
Brody is the one I was thinking of for Lynn.
I’m not really trying to matchmake anyone, but if they should show up, I will introduce them to you, if you don’t mind.
” Marta told them and grinned at the two women.
She had a good feeling that she might become good friends with these women.
“Well, I don’t know about Lynn, but I want to meet this Carson. He sounds very interesting. Tell me more about him, Marta.” Darcy told her and linked arms with her to go down to the cafeteria to eat dinner.
“Not so fast, I want to hear about the man who has hair like I do. You don’t hear about too many men with the same color of hair as I do.” Lynn linked arms with Marta’s other arm. The three women went down to dinner together. Their friendship was cemented on that very day.
Classes began the next day. They weren’t as difficult as Marta had thought they might be.
But she had to study every night for the constant tests they gave them to make sure they were qualified to teach in front of a class of students.
While they taught, Darcy, Lynn, and Marta also bought large pieces of poster board and painted pictures of animals on them with the alphabet, numbers, the rules of algebra, English rules, Science facts, things that they thought would be nice to have on the walls of their classroom.
They found out that Lynn was really good at drawing…
so they had her draw and Darcy and Marta would paint the shapes after she had drawn them on the poster boards.
They had the world painted, the United States, major battles in the War Between the States, parts of a seed, not knowing if they would have a one room classroom and they’d be teaching all eight grades or be split up and teaching the younger grades or the older grades, they made posters for older and younger grades.
Wherever they went, they’d be prepared to put up a colorful classroom.
Marta wrote to the Harper’s all the time and always included a special letter to Mattie, so he wouldn’t feel left out.
She mentioned her friends, Darcy and Lynn.
She told them of the posters they were making to help their future students learn better.
In the mail, Nimrod and Brody sent them a large box filled with one-inch blocks for them to paint an alphabet and numbers for their students.
All three girls loved them, and they all sent letters to Nimrod and Brody thanking them for the blocks.
They also started painting letters and numbers on the blocks for their classrooms immediately.
Lynn especially started writing to Brody.
She mentioned that Marta had told her that he had red/auburn hair like she did.
She told him it was the bane of her life; she agonized with him.
She also told him that she’d like to meet him and see someone else with hair like hers.
Marta told her that he was very handsome.
She couldn’t imagine anyone being handsome with auburn hair.
Brody liked the letter and Lynn and Brody began writing back and forth.
Carson came to see Marta in the spring and was very disappointed to find that she was in Denver becoming a teacher.
Marta had Darcy write a letter to Carson telling him about herself.
Carson was interested enough to start writing to her.
They began writing back and forth. Marta loved it.
The only person not to get any letters from a man was Marta.
Grady knew where she was…in fact, he came to Denver all the time for handing in his prisoners and getting his assignments, why didn’t he come and see her?
She enjoyed hearing from Kyra and Nimrod and loved hearing from Mattie.
Lynn and Darcy kept her informed of Brody and Carson.
But she didn’t hear from Grady, not even a note of where he was or what he was doing.
She felt he dropped off the ends of the earth.
It was the middle of March; she had been at school for over two months.
She was doing very well in her classes and was at the top of her class as far as grades went.
She was liked by everyone but wasn’t one to talk a lot to anyone.
She was quiet but smiled and talked when anyone spoke to her first. She had just taken her books to her room and was on her way down to the cafeteria when she received a message that someone was in the commons waiting to speak to her.
“Are you sure he asked for me? I don’t know anyone in Denver, and my family wouldn’t come all the way to Denver to see me. They just don’t have the money to do so.” Marta asked them to make sure they had the right person.
“No, they asked for Marta Romera. I think you’d better hurry.” The woman said and hurried to go back to her station at the receiving desk in the commons.
Marta couldn’t believe who in heavens name would be asking for her…
maybe it was Carter. Hadn’t he come to Denver to study to become a doctor?
Having figured it out, she hurried down to the commons with a smile on her face.
She couldn’t believe it when she saw Grady standing there.
He was wearing his buckskins, two six guns, and moccasins, and had just taken off a heavy coat and hat.
She almost didn’t recognize him. He hadn’t shaved and had begun wearing a beard and his hair was shaggy and almost to his shoulders.
“Grady? I almost didn’t recognize you…it’s been months and months since I heard from you or saw you…what brings you here?” Marta asked him in a soft voice.
To Grady, she had never looked prettier in her blue dress…
blue was his favorite color. Her hair was so shiny.
and she didn’t wear it up on top of her head but left it down around her shoulders.
Grady swallowed just so he could speak. “I went to see the folks and the babies. I got off the train just as you got on…I couldn’t believe that I missed you…
I went to see you more than them. I’ve missed you, Marta, more than I ever thought I would.
You sure look pretty standing there. Would I ruin your reputation if I pulled you into my arms and kissed you? ”
“I’d like that Grady, I thought about the kiss you gave me when you left over and over again, but then you didn’t write and I felt like you forgot about me.
But if you kissed me, it would be all over the school in minutes.
There’s no place for privacy here in the school.
They guard our reputations very closely.
We’ll have to settle for you holding my hand, is that all right?
” Marta asked him but watched his mouth.
“It’ll have to do. Can I take you out to dinner, or is that not allowed?” Grady asked her and hoped if he took her out to dinner he could steal a kiss or two or three.
Marta shook her head sadly. “Not until we graduate in September. We can visit here in the commons, but we’re not allowed to leave. I wish I could, there’s nothing more I’d like than to let you hold me and cover your face with kisses. I’ve missed you, Grady. Why did you stop writing to me?”
“It wasn’t on purpose. We had to ride that blasted train forever to catch those felons, when we finally did, I wrangled a pass to come home to see you to explain why I quit writing to you, but I missed you.
You had just left to come to teacher college.
I think you’ll make a great teacher.” He paused.
He was rubbing his thumb against her palm, almost like he was making love to her hand.
“Wasn’t it wild with my mother having two babies at Christmas?
After all these years, she gets pregnant!
I couldn’t believe it…I was worried about you becoming pregnant from being raped after being a hostage from the Gambelli Gang.
I was glad that you didn’t. Were you going down to dinner when I sent the girl to get you? ”
“Yes, but I’d rather stay here and talk to you.
” Marta told him. She struggled with telling him of her being pregnant instead of his mother, but she couldn’t speak the words.
“I have two of my friends writing to Brody and Carson. Darcy is writing to Carson and Lynn is writing to Brody. Lynn has auburn hair like Brody has. Carson has been a problem always coming over to ask me out, and I keep telling him no. Darcy is perfect for him. They’ve been writing for the past month.
At least he’s not pestering me all the time. ”
“I didn’t know that Carson was coming over to see you all the time or that he was asking you out…I’m glad that you turned him down. I wouldn’t like seeing you in his arms, Marta.” Grady told her and squeezed her hand tightly. “I’d probably slug him if I ever saw him kiss you.”
“If he ever tried to kiss me, you’d have to wait in line. I’d slug him first.” Marta told him and saw him smile.
“Good girl. I’m going to let you go and get some dinner. I won’t be in Denver long, but when I get back, I’ll stop in and see you, if that’s all right.”
“That’s more than all right. You take care of yourself, and please don’t get injured while you’re out there capturing all those wanted criminals.
” She squeezed his hand. “I’m glad you came to see me, Grady.
It meant a lot to see you again.” She blew him a kiss as she left.
Grady stood there for a while and then he left.
He didn’t know if he could watch her leave again. It was tearing him up inside.