Chapter 3
Silver Creek, Wyoming – Two weeks later
Mary stood outside the sheriff’s office. The trip to Silver Creek, Wyoming, had been a long one. She’d left on the train in the early morning. Leaving her sisters had been devastating. Mary’s chest still ached.
They’d understood, of course, they understood when she’d explained her father intended to force her to marry Jasper.
After being on the train for days, she’d had to travel by stagecoach. It had been a hard two weeks, but worth it. She gripped her satchel a little tighter.
The sheriff seemed like a good man, from his letters. She only hoped that it would work out as well as she thought it would.
She had certainly come far enough to find out. The only thing that she had as a backup was her inheritance. Her decision to find potential options in Silver Creek had been the right one.
Her father was going to be furious when he found out she’d left. Jasper would most likely be angry, too. He’d feel as if he’d been cheated out of a wife, Mary was certain.
She wouldn’t have to face him, at least not any time soon, and that gave her a little peace and comfort, at least for the time being. Perhaps she should have considered different possibilities before running away.
She squared her shoulders. There was no time for second-guessing herself.
She’d already made the decision to be there.
She couldn’t change her mind. Especially because if she went back to her father after leaving, she didn’t know what consequences there would be to pay, but they would undoubtedly be worse than the ones facing her in Silver Creek.
Mary took a deep breath and made her way up the steps into the sheriff’s office. The door was already open, so she walked right in.
On the far side was a wide wooden desk. Behind the desk sat a man. He was wearing a blue plaid shirt and a silver star on his chest.
A kind smile lifted his lips, his brown eyes looking kind as he sat up straighter. He was young, perhaps not much older than she was. Could he be the sheriff? The sheriff had specified in his letters that he was twelve years older than her.
She’d been skeptical of the age difference, but he’d assured her that she could teach or work how she wished after their marriage, as long as she was also willing to keep her wifely duties.
“Good afternoon, Miss. What can I do for you today?”
Mary swallowed hard. She’d expected the sheriff to be waiting for her at the stagecoach station. After all, she’d sent him a letter in the first town they’d passed after leaving Chicago. But he hadn’t been there, so she decided the next best place to find him was his place of work.
“I’m um, looking for Sheriff Thomson. Is he here?”
Mary looked around the office. It was small and neat. With two jail cells on one side and a wall full of wanted posters on the other. It looked close to how she’d imagined it would. She’d been into the sheriff’s office once in Chicago. It had been at least four times as big.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” The man behind the desk spoke, pulling her attention. “I’m Deputy Ford. They’re still deciding who will be the new sheriff.”
“The new sheriff?” Mary asked, confusion washing over her.
“Yes, the new sheriff. I’m real sorry to be the one to tell you, but Sheriff Thomson passed away less than a week ago.
There was a fight in the saloon that got out of hand.
He got in the middle of it. There was no saving him.
It’s a shame. He was a good friend of mine.
” Emotion clouded the man’s face. She could see that he meant it when he said that the sheriff had been his friend. The pain was easy to see in his face.
“I…” she drew in a sharp breath.
The sheriff…was dead. What was she going to do now?
She’d made all her plans with a marriage in mind. Her father had been right about her needing the protection of a man. Starting over in a city with no protection and no family connections would be very difficult without a marriage.
Her heart raced as she tried to come to terms with a different path forward.
“Sheriff Thomson is the one who died?”
“Yes. It’s been difficult for us all. He was a good man and very loved by this town. Not one person would have a mean word to say about him.” The deputy studied her for a moment.
“I’m sorry to ask, but what did you need with Sheriff Thomson?” Deputy Ford asked, as if he’d just remembered that they knew nothing about one another.
“Mary Aldridge. I was supposed to…well, marry him. I was his mail-order bride.”
She didn’t know how to feel. She hardly knew Sheriff Thomson. They’d only exchanged a few letters, then she’d accepted when he asked her to marry him. She’d started her journey west without waiting for a reply.
Her plan had been to come West, marry him, and rely on his protection to keep her from Jasper or her father, should they decide to come after her. She would have then depended on her aunt for anything more that she needed.
“I’m…goodness. I didn’t realize that he’d already solidified things.
” Deputy Ford shook his head. “He would have been there for you, at the stagecoach station.
He was such a good man, and he was looking forward to getting married.
Is there something I can do for you? Do you need help finding a place to stay in town?
“I’ll just go. Can you tell me where the bank is…and the church?”
Her heart ached, and she tried to push down the panic.
Her mother had taken her to church since she was a child.
It was the one place she felt safe. Maybe the pastor would know what she should do.
First, she’d stop by the bank and make sure she still had an inheritance to fall back on.
Mr. West had walked her through what she could expect. She had to go to the bank to claim it.
“Are you sure? I’m so sorry. I had no idea…I mean, he told me that he was talking with someone who would be his mail-order bride. I just didn’t know that he’d chosen someone for sure, or that you were on your way.” Deputy Ford ran a hand through his hair and stood abruptly, starting to pace.
“It’s all right. You couldn’t have known.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. Mr. West had mentioned that the bank owner would have to process the paperwork to hand over her inheritance. How long would it take? There was a home in her aunt’s inheritance. She could go stay there while she figured out what to do next.
“The bank is on this street, on the right-hand side. Can’t miss it. If you keep walking another five minutes, you’ll see a big tree, you turn right onto that street, and at the end is the church. It’s not too far. Would you like me to walk you there?”
“I think I can find it. Thank you. I need a few minutes to think about all of this.”
“Of course. Anything you need while in town, feel free to come back. I’d be happy to help.”
“Thank you.” Mary took a step back, clutching her satchel a little tighter. What was she going to do? In a strange town, no husband, no idea where to start. Her heart hammered in her chest. When she got to the street, she started walking, feeling numb.
The bank was right where Deputy Ford said it would be. She spotted the false-front building near the center of town.
It’s faded sign swinging faintly above the boardwalk in the afternoon breeze. Two tall windows flanked the front door, though the glass was dusty enough to blur the figures moving inside.
Mary climbed the wooden steps and went through the front door. A small brass bell jingled overhead. The scent of lamp oil, old paper, and pine boards filled the room.
A long counter stretched across the far side of the bank, polished smooth by elbows and hands. Behind it stood shelves crowded with ledgers, pigeon holes stuffed with papers, and a heavy iron safe tucked against the back wall.
She walked up to the counter, waiting anxiously. It was odd to walk into a strange town she barely knew, go to the bank, and demand what was hers.
A man appeared behind the counter from a back room. He was short and round. He reminded her of the baker back home. He wasn’t quite as round, though.
He had beady black eyes and a mouth that sat in a permanent frown.
“Good afternoon, how can I help you, Miss?” he asked. His voice was slimy, and somehow fit him just right.
“My aunt used to live here, in town, and she’s left me her home.” Mary swallowed hard after saying the words. It felt odd to say that someone had left her their home.
“Has she?” The man’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t look like you’re old enough to own something like that. Is your husband here, or your father? You won’t be able to take possession of it until one of them is present.” He rolled back on his heels, looking pleased with himself.
“I’m not married.” Mary felt as if the floor had opened up, but hadn’t swallowed her yet.
“The papers didn’t say anything about needing to get married or about having my father with me.
” She pulled out the papers that Mr. West had given her and slid them across the counter for the man to examine. “Is the owner of the bank here?”
The man paused, the expression on his face darkening.
“I am the owner of the bank, Ezra Lawson.” He grabbed her papers, skimming them over. She wasn’t sure he even read more than five words before he slid them right back to her. “Listen, Miss…”
“Aldridge.”
“Your aunt may have left you the property and her accounts, but those assets are a large amount of money, and I’m afraid I can’t just hand them over to you without assurances. If you were married or your father had come with you, then the situation would be different. That’s not the case, though.”
“I don’t understand how that would be the case, and Mr. West didn’t tell me.” Tears pressed against the backs of her eyes.
“There isn’t much to understand, though if you’d like, you can send a letter to Mr. West and get him to come here with you. Perhaps he can clear it up. That would take a while, I am sure.”
Mary frowned. Of course, he wanted it to take time. After all, her aunt passed away three months ago. It had taken almost two of those months for Mr. West to contact her, and to inform her of the inheritance, then the weeks it had taken her to travel, and to get to town.
If it took too long, the whole inheritance would belong to Mr. Lawson. She suspected that was his intention.
“I…will contact him, and will return later,” she managed weakly. All of her energy was gone.
She left the bank, the sound of Mr. Lawson scoffing behind her burned in her chest. Hopefully, she would find some better answers at the church.
Every carefully laid plan she’d had was falling through, leaving her with nowhere to turn.
Doubt crept into her mind, whispering all the ways she’d messed up.
Maybe she wasn’t smart enough to figure things out.
Perhaps there was no way for her to provide for herself, even with her aunt’s inheritance.
She shuddered. There had to be a way for her to safely stay out West. Going home, she couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t.