CHAPTER2
Finally, the girls were all loaded on the train and Ida stood on the platform waving good-bye to them, tears in her eyes.
Mary had never felt so relieved as she did now that they were about to leave. She could hopefully put the past behind her, though the thought of her sister brought tears to her eyes. Somewhere in Charleston, Elizabeth’s body lay buried, but she had no idea where.
“Remember, you can come home if you’re not happy,” Ida yelled, walking along the train platform.
How many times had this woman said this to all of them? It was almost like she felt bad for sending them off into the wilderness.
Every day, Mary had scanned the papers looking for an article on her sister and brother-in-law and yet nothing ever appeared. For two weeks, there had been nothing, and now she gazed at the city of her birth one last time as the wheels of the train slowly picked up speed.
Everything she knew and loved was in this city and she was leaving it all behind. Pain gripped her chest and she knew she had no choice but to get out of town unless she wanted to hang.
She had not even gone to the cemetery to her parents’ grave one last time for fear the law would be waiting for her there.
Now she was leaving town, beginning a new life, and she hoped all that had happened in Charleston stayed behind. All she wanted was a new beginning away from the pain of this city. The pain of what her brother-in-law had done.
“Hi,” the woman sitting across from her said. Her face was familiar and yet Mary didn’t know her. She had tried to hang back from all the gatherings in Ida’s house for fear that someone would know what happened and she would never make it onto the train.
After all, if they were searching for her, she had to remain in hiding.
“Hi,” she responded. “We’re finally leaving.”
“Yes. I’m Daisy Miller.”
The name hit her and she remembered the scandal in the paper. Could they all be running from something? This woman must be looking for a new beginning as well.
“Great to meet you, Daisy. I’m Mary,” she said, thinking that since they were out of town, maybe she could get to know some of the women better. After all, they would be living in a new place with their only connection being to each other.
“I guess you know who I am?”
Mary smiled and decided she was not going to say a word. “No, I don’t. We’re all going to be starting over in a new place. I say we leave the past behind.”
The woman’s face lit up and a smile brightened her beautiful features as she pushed her blonde hair off her shoulder. “Thank you.”
The woman was stunning, and Mary wondered how she could have done something so egregious. But then she had her own past; it was best to leave it all here in Charleston. They all deserved new lives in a new place.
“Besides, we’re going to be traveling for three months together.”
The woman turned her face to the window and watched as the last of the city disappeared and the train began to pick up speed.
A tear trickled down her cheek. “Have you ever been out of the city before?”
“No, this is my first time,” Mary said. “I’ve never been a mail-order bride before either.”
The girl gave a little sniff and chuckled. “To new beginnings. Let’s focus on our futures and not our pasts.”
Mary nodded. “I agree. To new beginnings.”
They sat in silence as the train rumbled along the tracks. It was an odd sensation and one Mary had never experienced before. So much about her life had changed in an instant. Her twin sister Elizabeth was dead and Frank…
For a moment, she was filled with fear and worry. What if she hated Montana? What if her husband was like her brother-in-law? What if…Stop!
She shook her head trying to get the voices of doubt out of her mind. She would not jump from the rushing train and run back to Charleston, to certain death.
“Are you afraid?” Daisy asked, her blue eyes wide and expressive.
She started laughing. “Terrified.”
“Me too,” she said. “We’ll be so far away from everything we know.”
“But we can return if we’re not happy,” Mary responded, thinking about how many times Mrs. Newton had repeated that piece of information.
But she knew she would never return. Never see the city she loved and grew up in again. It would not be safe to ever come back. So Montana would now be her new home.
“Yes,” Daisy said. “I’m going to remain positive. I just know we’re all going to fall in love with our new husbands.”
“We’re going to love our new city and the mountains of Montana,” Mary said, trying to convince not only Daisy but herself.
For a moment, Mary thought about the people in her life that had been in love. Her parents’ marriage had been filled with happiness and love. There were always smiling. When they argued, it had not been mean. They had their disagreements and soon they were back to kissing and hugging. Right up to the day they died.
But her sister… Tears filled Mary’s eyes and her chest ached with a searing pain. She would die before she would marry a man like her brother-in-law.
She would not accept a marriage filled with hate. She would not let a man harm her.
Cautious was how Mary would approach choosing a husband. No one said she had to marry right away, and from what she understood, they would have time before they were required to make a decision.
All she hoped was that whoever waited for her in Treasure Falls was someone who could give her a marriage more like her parents. A home that eventually would be filled with love and laughter and what she’d had before her parents died.
What she had before Frank Thompson stepped into their lives and destroyed everything. For a moment, she wondered if there were mountain lions there. Her sister always said she had the soul of a mountain lion—a fierce fighter and protector who roamed the wild with freedom. If only that had been true, then Elizabeth might not have been dead.
Remembering how her sister had made the decision to marry, she was suddenly filled with doubt.
“Daisy, let’s make a vow right now to watch out for one another. To make certain that we’re making a good decision. Don’t be afraid to tell me if you think I’m not choosing wisely and I’ll do the same for you.”
The woman smiled at her. “Agreed.”
“Now we have three months to get across the country before we arrive in our new home. Let’s spend the time planning on what kind of husband we’re looking for.”
The woman’s sapphire eyes brightened. “What a grand idea. It will help to pass the time.”
“Yes,” Mary said, knowing she had to keep her mind occupied or else the past would overwhelm her and leave her so very sad.