Angel In The Saloon (Brides of Glory Gulch) (29 page)

“Now I definitely don’t want you to go.” He kissed
tenderly her on the cheek.

“Oh, brother!” Corrin said. “You two are acting like a
couple of school children in puppy love.” She stood because the stage had
arrived. “Paul, we’re going now. You’ll just have to accept that fact.” She put
her nose high in the air, pulled Amelia from her chair and let him follow them
with a grin on his face.

Paul tossed their satchels up to the driver, helped
Corrin into the coach, and then grabbed Amelia and held her close. He kissed
her hair and then her mouth.

“I do want you to have fun, Angel. But I have to admit
I’ll miss you something awful.”

“I know. And I’ll miss you too.”

“Never forget that I love you more than I’ve ever
loved anyone before.” He couldn’t seem to let go of her.

“Oh, Paul. I have never loved anyone like this before
either.” She kissed him and then broke his embrace to board the stage. He
swooped her up and planted her feet onto the floor of the stage.

As they pulled out of town, Paul sighed and headed
back to the mill. At least he had plenty of work to keep him busy for the next
five days.

›
›
›

The ladies had a delightful time in Glenwood Springs. They
chose the loveliest wedding gown of ivory satin and lace, trimmed with lots of
beads and ribbons and bows. Amelia felt almost giddy as she tried it on and
turned for her aunt.

“Can you believe it, Aunt Corrin? I’m going to be
married,” she cooed.

They also chose a lovely, ivory-lace veil that would
hide Amelia’s face until the moment in the ceremony when Paul would lift it and
kiss her for the first time as his wife.

Besides shopping, they attended the opera and the
theater and ate at fine dining establishments. Both were glad to have this time
alone, and although Amelia missed Paul, they kept so busy that the time nearly
flew by.

Soon they were back on the stage, their many bundles
and packages tied firmly to the top. They chattered chattering about the trip like
the hummingbirds that never seem to be quiet.

When the stage was about thirty minutes out of
Glenwood Springs, a distant shot was heard in the woods. The driver quickly
called to his passengers, all three females.

“Nothing to worry about ladies, just hunters out after
deer or elk!”

Amelia had been holding her breath, remembering just
five weeks ago that Paul had been shot. Now she missed him very much and was
anxious to meet him when they arrived back in Glory Gulch.

“That’s a beautiful ring you’re wearing.” The third
passenger, a young lady about Amelia’s age said.

“She’s talking about your ring, Honey,” Corrin advised
her niece.

“Oh, thank you very much. My fiancé gave it to me. We’re
to be married in only eight more days.” Amelia’s heart fluttered every time she
thought about Paul, which was nearly every minute she was awake.

“How wonderful for you. My name is Melissa Perser. I’m
on my way back home to Runyon Canyon. I’ve been going to school in California
and I’ve missed my family so much. I also have a beau back home who I can’t
wait to see again.”

Corrin and Amelia smiled to hear her excitement.

Then a shot rang out so near them the ladies thought
surely the stagecoach had been the target. The sudden noise spooked the horses,
and they jumped with a start and shot forward, running frantically. The driver
pulled back on the reigns and repeatedly shouted, “Whoa!”

The ladies held onto the sides of the coach and to
each other as they went careening down the road. The horses gained speed and ran
wildly when they suddenly turned a sharp bend.

The driver shouted at the top of his lungs, “Jump
ladies! Jump now!”

Corrin instinctively opened the door and pushed Amelia
out just as the coach rounded the bend and tipped over, tumbling end over end
and finally crashing loudly into the gully below.  

The dreadful sound of the stage going over the hill resounded
in Amelia’s ears as she screamed, “Aunt Corrin! Aunt Corrin!” Within a few
seconds, the air was deafeningly still. She had been lying in a snow bank and
stood to her feet. Her hip was bruised and hurt, but she knew she was all right.

“Aunt Corrin! Where are you! Please, answer me! Aunt
Corrin!”

She felt a hand on her shaking shoulder.

“Are you all right?” It was the driver.

“Yes, I’m fine, but what about my aunt? And Melissa? Why
won’t anyone answer me?”

›
›
›

The stage driver had no answer for the blind
passenger. “The embankment is too steep for you to climb down. You’d never make
it. You just sit here and I’ll go check on the others.”  He didn’t want to risk
the possibility of her happening upon any misfortunate scenes.

Sliding down the hill, he was almost to the wreckage
when he saw the other young passenger. She must have been thrown from the
coach, her body thrust against a tree, her back broken in two. He drew in a
deep breath and continued to try to locate the elder lady, the blind girl’s aunt.

He found her lying on the ground, her forehead badly
gashed and bleeding, and one leg was caught under one of the topmost corners of
the coach. She was still breathing, but was unconscious. He frantically tried
to free her from the grasp of the stage, but it was just too heavy for him to
lift alone.

Clothes were strewn everywhere and he picked up as
many as he could and gently wrapped them all around the hurt lady. He tore a
petticoat to make a bandage and wound it around her head several times and
secured it with a knot.

He had to go back up to the road and get help. His
heart fluttered at the sight of a new wedding dress strewn across a bush. He
hoped it didn’t belong to the one who had died.

›
›
›

Amelia held her breath for what seemed like hours to
her. Then she heard someone scrambling up the hill. It was a lone person. She
couldn’t breathe and she thought her heart would explode. “Aunt Corrin?”

“Your aunt’s alive, Miss,” the driver said. “She
unconscious though, which is probably a good thing right now. One leg is pinned
under the coach. I can’t get her out.”

“I must go to her.” Amelia stood and began fumbling
forward, having lost her cane somewhere in the wreckage.

“You’re not going down there, Miss!” The driver caught
her firmly by one arm. “I have to go get some help and you’re coming with me.”

“But, I can’t leave my aunt. I won’t leave her.”

“I’m not leaving a blind woman out here in this
freezing weather to fend for herself. You’re coming with me. It’s for your own
protection. I wrapped your Aunt in lots of warm clothing. She’ll be fine until
a doctor and some men who can move that coach can get here.”

He clutched Amelia’s arm so tightly it hurt, and he
pulled her along beside him unsympathetically. She sobbed while trying to resist
him, but finally resigned herself to walk with him.

He told her that they had passed a country home about
fifteen minutes before the accident and he hoped to find help there. Approaching
the house, a man came out onto the porch and looked curiously at the two.

“Hello. May I help you?”

“I’m the driver of the Grand Junction to Denver Stage.
My name’s Hank Jorgens.” The two shook hands. “We had an accident a few miles
west of here. I need someone to fetch a doctor and a few capable men to pull
the coach off a woman who is pinned under it. This lady’s fine. She’s blind and
I’d like to leave her here while we take care of the wreck. They can stop by
and get her on their way back to Glenwood Springs.”

Amelia was taken into the warm, country home while Mr.
Jorgens remained outside for a moment, talking quietly with the other man. The
men came inside the house, and the home owner told his wife he was saddling his
horse and riding into town immediately to get help.

His wife offered the two accident victims a cup of
coffee. The driver told the lady what had happened and she listened intently.

“Then we must pray for this dear girl’s aunt.” She
bowed her head and began a sweet, fervent prayer for Corrin.

Amelia felt encouraged by it, and before long, she had
an inner assurance that her Aunt would be fine.

Within forty-five minutes, the man returned, saddled
another horse for Mr. Jorgens and the two rode off. Amelia wanted to go with
them, but they refused her, saying they didn’t need her underfoot. They
promised to pick her up on their way back to Glenwood Springs. She prayed
furiously for her aunt. Why hadn’t she answered her when she called? The lady
of the house tried to keep her occupied, but all she could think of was her
aunt.

›
›
›

Two wagons carrying men and equipment and several men
riding horses pulled over to the side of the road just as the driver arrived at
the scene of the accident. They all quickly slid down the embankment. The
driver motioned to another man to help him with Melissa’s poor, broken body and
wrapped her in a tarp the men had brought for that purpose. With difficulty,
they carried her up the slippery embankment to one of the wagons.

Meanwhile, the others hastened to help Corrin. She was
groggy, but conscious and relieved to see them.

“My niece,” she said amidst the pain in her leg. “I’ve
been calling to her, but she doesn’t answer. Is she all right?”

The men in the wagon had not been told about Amelia
yet and assumed Corrin was talking about the poor unfortunate girl who had died.
One of them leaned over her and quietly said, “Ma’am, I’m afraid, the young
lady didn’t make it.”

“No! No! Not my precious Amelia! Please, say it isn’t
so. Please, not Amelia.” Her heart broke. If she had only allowed Paul the
small wedding he wanted, her niece would be alive. It was all her fault.

They implored her to remain still while attempting to
lift the coach off of her leg. Corrin allowed herself to go rigid. Why bother
with anything now? She had been stripped of the one thing that had brought life
and love back into her existence. At first she took her niece grudgingly, but
now she loved her as her own. And she was gone! Was God playing a cruel joke on
her? Surely this isn’t the kind and gentle and forgiving God Amelia had often
spoken of. She should have listened to Paul and not made the trip. Oh, poor
Paul. He will be devastated. How will he be able to go on without his Angel?

“Will you send a telegram to Glory Gulch for me?” she
asked a man who was standing nearby.

“Sure, Ma’am. What do you want it to say? Abbreviate
as much as possible.” The kindly gentleman was already holding a small note pad
and pencil and was ready to take her statement.

“Send it to...” She paused. Paul shouldn’t read this
alone. “Send it to Mr. Jeremiah Cowan in Glory Gulch. Stagecoach
accident-stop-am hurt-stop-taken back to Glenwood Springs-stop-tell Paul...” She
cried at the words she was about to say.

“Tell Paul?”

“Tell Paul his Angel got her wings today-stop-Please
come-stop-end-Corrin.” She then slipped back into unconsciousness.

The reporter had pretty well got as much of the story
as he was going to, so he made sure the men didn’t need his help and hopped
upon his horse to get the story to print and to deliver the sad telegraph he
had been solicited to send. He was the first reporter to cover the story, and
therefore, was sure to get a handsome bonus for this.

The crew pried Corrin loose using a lot of rope and
horses. Once free from the coach, a doctor examined her. Even though her leg
was badly damaged, he was sure she wouldn’t lose it. He was more concerned
about her head wound. He put a crude splint on her leg, and they quickly got
her up the hill and into one of the wagons just as the driver and the other man
who had taken care of Miss Perser were heading back down.

Mr. Jorgens remembered to tell them that they had to
stop and pick up a third passenger whom he had deposited at the house up the
road.

The entire rescue had occurred in about a half hour. The
gross miscommunication was not discovered until one of the wagons stopped for
Amelia fifteen minutes later. She immediately asked about her aunt, and the men
quickly shot side glances at each other. They told her that her aunt would be
fine and that she was in the other wagon. They drove in silence for awhile
before one of them told her what had happened.

›
›
›

“Aunt Corrin thinks I’m dead? I can’t believe this
happened!” But Amelia was even more incredulous when she heard about how the
reporter had probably already sent the message to Glory Gulch. They quickly
assured her another one would be sent immediately, telling of the error and
that she was all right. And Amelia assured them that someone was going to
answer for this terrible mix up.

Amelia’s heart ached for Paul, unable to fathom his
grief upon reading of her death. She had never been so angry and so heartbroken
at the same time.