McKenzie (2 page)

“She never should have married a man so far beneath her. Now we’ll likely never hear from her again,” Peyton had said, sipping her tea. “Of course, Kaydie was always the one who thought she could do whatever she pleased and face the consequences later.” Peyton’s voice had done little to hide her smugness. “I would never do such a thing. Not only was it an unwise decision to marry someone without a pedigree and move far from civilization, but it has brought nothing but shame to the Worthington family. I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve had to make up stories to explain her absence in order to preserve our family’s impeccable reputation.”

McKenzie had glared at her older sister. “Now, Peyton, not everyone can marry such a fine gentleman as Maxwell Adams,” she’d said with more than a hint of sarcasm, thinking of how grateful she was that she herself hadn’t married Maxwell, or anyone like him. While he was polite and treated Peyton well, he was also stuffy and prudish, and he seemed incapable of doing anything for himself. It had been Peyton who had secured his position at their father’s law office. Maxwell hadn’t even been able to apply for the job himself. In McKenzie’s opinion, Maxwell was a helpless, spineless, sorry excuse for a man.

“At least I am married,” Peyton had said, glaring at her sister, “unlike some people I know.” Peyton never missed an opportunity to rub in the fact that McKenzie, as an unmarried woman, was an oddity in a society that held marriage as the highest priority for women—marriage to a man from a wealthy family and with a thriving career, of course. The fact that Peyton had been successful on both accounts gave her an edge over a sister who in most other respects won the competition war.

“Now, girls, please. This bickering between the two of you must stop,” their mother had said, wringing her hands.

“You’re right, Mother. It is a shame that McKenzie doesn’t conduct herself in a manner more in line with our upbringing,” Peyton had said, smiling smugly at her mother.

McKenzie shook her head now and pictured her mother. With the exception of her long, gray-blonde hair and the age difference, she and Peyton could be twins. Her mother’s large, emerald eyes made her look as though she were in a constant state of surprise. Her pert, upturned nose further conveyed the air about her that she knew she was from one of the wealthier families in the Boston area, both by birth and by marriage.

“Marry a man of wealth, have children, attend social gatherings, and busy yourself with acceptable volunteer work” were the maxims McKenzie’s mother sought to instill in her daughters. Kaydie had managed to fulfill one of those wishes—she’d married. Yet, it had been in defiance of her parents’ desire, for Darius was hardly wealthy. Yes, they had met while doing volunteer work, but, based on what McKenzie knew now, it had probably been a ruse.

The chiming of the tall, mahogany clock in the corner brought McKenzie back to the present, and she again focused her attention on Kaydie’s predicament. She knew that mailing money to Kaydie to secure her fare to Boston would be impossible, as she had no access to any funds; the money in her dowry would be passed to her husband alone.

Poor Kaydie had thought her normally calm and complacent life would be so full of adventure when she’d agreed to marry the wayward Darius. He’d captured her heart and taken her from security and wealth to the dangerous, uncivilized Wild West. Granted, he was an attractive man with allure brimming in his erratic personality. He’d even said all the things Kaydie had longed to hear, making the men of Boston pale in comparison. Only after it was too late had Kaydie discovered that Darius made his living by swindling and robbing. When things didn’t go according to plan, he took out his fury, both verbal and physical, on Kaydie, essentially holding her hostage in her own marriage.

Now, Kaydie was suffering because she’d fallen in love with what had turned out to be a mere façade. Her dowry, which Darius had been after from the beginning, had been spent while Kaydie had been blinded by the love she’d thought she had found.

McKenzie had always been closest to Kaydie and knew that there must be a way to help her. Besides, she knew Kaydie would do the same if the situation were reversed. She reached up to twirl one of her tendrils between her finger and her thumb, as she habitually did when she was in deep thought. Not one to allow discouragement to defeat her, McKenzie knew she had to be the one to concoct a plan to rescue her sister. Kaydie’s life depended on it. No one else knew of the four letters Kaydie had mailed intermittently to McKenzie. McKenzie had been sworn to secrecy regarding Kaydie’s predicament, and, besides, her parents would no doubt have no shortage of words regarding their judgment of their youngest daughter’s poor choice. No one else knew the way her life had taken a turn for the worse. No one else knew of Kaydie’s desperation. McKenzie was the only one who knew and the only one who could help. But how would she afford the trip west? And, once she got there, where would she stay? Who would protect her while she searched potentially dangerous towns for her sister?

Just then, it came to her—an idea so crazy, she thought that it just might work.

Six weeks prior • Pine Haven, Montana Territory

I would love to help you write an advertisement,” said Lucille Granger, her eyes holding a twinkle.

Zach looked at Lucille, with her gray hair swooped in a tight bun on her head, pulled back so tightly that it made her eyes turn up at the outer corners. Her plump fingers awaited the go-ahead to assist Zach with the task he anticipated yet dreaded. He’d known Lucille for over a decade. She and her husband, Fred, had been more than kind to Zach when he’d first moved to Pine Haven with little more than a bedroll. They’d given him a job at Granter Mercantile, the store they owned and operated, and had become a surrogate aunt and uncle to him.

Surely, Lucille would be able to carry out the task she so eagerly awaited. After all, Zach reasoned, Lucille had an education and was very creative. She would have just the talent Zach needed to help him land a wife for himself and a mother for Davey. Yet, she did have one negative aspect of her personality—a penchant for gossip. It wasn’t that she was malicious or desired to cause trouble, but she simply struggled with keeping interesting information to herself. It was like her delicious, homemade honey bread, which was famous for a twenty-five-mile radius—she couldn’t wait to share it. Once someone took the chance of telling Lucille any news, it wasn’t long before the entire town knew.

“All right, Lucille, but you have to promise me you’ll take this seriously, not tell anyone, and do your best in the advertisement to make me sound like a decent man.”

“That won’t be hard, Zach. You are a very decent man, and I will take it seriously,” Lucille said. He didn’t miss her neglect to mention his other request. Still, he figured finding a wife would be worth the risk of having Lucille spill juicy gossip all over town.

Lucille reached for a pencil and tapped it on the counter. “I’m going to think on this in between customers, and we’ll meet again tomorrow. How does that sound?”

“That would be fine, Lucille,” Zach said. He picked up the bag of flour he’d purchased and turned to exit the store.

“By the way, Zach, would you like for me to mention Davey in the ad?”

Zach thought for a moment. “Not right at first, Lucille. I’ll reply with that information if someone is interested.”

“I should think you’d have a lot of women interested,” said Lucille with a giggle that made her sound like a silly schoolgirl. “If I’d had a daughter instead of three sons, I would have wanted her to marry you.”

“Thank you, Lucille,” Zach said and blushed. In a way, he wished Lucille had a daughter. Even though she probably would have been several years older than Zach, at least it would have saved him the time, hassle, and embarrassment of advertising for a wife. As it was, there were few unmarried women in Pine Haven, and absolutely none with whom he was interested in spending the rest of his life.

“You’re welcome, Zach. Now tell Davey, Rosemary, and everyone else hello for me, and I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early.”

Zach nodded and stepped out the door, then made his way to his wagon, into which he loaded the sack of flour. If this harebrained idea ever worked, he would be amazed. Still, he’d spent much time praying to God for wisdom, discernment, and guidance on this issue. One item was of chief importance: Davey needed a mother. If God led Zach to a woman, she would be the right one—of that, Zach was certain.

***

“Well, what do you think?” Lucille asked Zach the next morning when he finished reading the advertisement she’d written.

Zach rolled his shoulders in an upward manner, as he always did when he was nervous, and read the handwritten words again:

Twenty-five-year-old rancher in Montana Territory looking for possible matrimony. Man of integrity with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and shy demeanor seeks a kind, educated, hardworking, Christian woman with good disposition with whom to share his life. Must be willing to relocate. Please correspond by mail to Mr. Zach Sawyer, Pine Haven, Montana Territory.

“I don’t know, Lucille.”

“I think it sounds great,” said Lucille. “You know, my writing expertise would draw a fair wage in some parts of the country.”

She stared at him for a moment before speaking again. “I’ve mentioned your age and appearance, and what you’re after—possible matrimony. By saying ‘possible,’ you give yourself the option to decline, should the replies prove unsatisfactory. Second, I’ve written what you are looking for in a woman.” Lucille grinned and leaned closer to him. “Was I not right in what you desire in a wife? I believe the only thing I failed to mention, and I can easily add, is that you desire someone beautiful.”

“Don’t add that, Lucille. A woman might not find herself beautiful, even though I might, and then she wouldn’t respond. I reckon you could leave it as is.”

“You don’t sound too pleased. I’ll have you know, Zachary Sawyer, I stayed up half the night to write this. I changed the wording no fewer than fifteen times, and I made you to sound like a highly educated man.” Her voice rose to the pitch it always had when she’d scolded her sons for eating one too many cookies before supper.

“Thank you, Lucille. I appreciate all the time and work you’ve put into this. By the way, I’m not uneducated. I went to a fine city school before my parents died, and the orphanage where I grew up did offer more than sufficient lessons.”

“Oh, I know that. I didn’t mean to make it sound as though you weren’t intelligent; I just wanted the women reading the advertisement to realize you were educated to some degree. You see, some women might see the words ‘Montana Territory’ and think you are a backwards fellow without much schooling. We want to prevent anyone from drawing conclusions of that sort.” Lucille patted him on the arm. “Now, you take this and mail it today.” She pointed at the post office a few buildings down, as if Zach was ignorant of its location, even after all the years he’d lived in Pine Haven.

“All right, Lucille. Thank you again.”

“Now, you promise me, Zach, that you’ll go right over and have Mr. Victor mail it right away. As you can see, I have copied it over five times—no quick task, I might add—so that you can mail it to the five newspapers on this list. These are some of the finest newspapers in the East, including Marriage Times and the Boston Herald.” Lucille grabbed the stack of copies from Zach and added the listing of newspapers to it. Then, she tapped them on the counter several times to line them up in perfect order before handing them back to Zach.

“I don’t know, Lucille. Maybe it’s not the right thing to do. I mean, Davey does have Rosemary….”

“Rosemary is one of my closest friends, and she’s a grand influence on Davey, but he needs a ma. Plus, you need a wife. Now go, Zach, and mail the advertisement. Then, come back over and have a piece of my world-famous, homemade honey bread.” Lucille adjusted her thick glasses on her nose and gestured with her right hand toward the door.

“All right, Lucille, I’ll do it.”

Zach sighed as he headed for the post office. Lord, please let this be the right thing to do, he silently prayed. The last thing I want to do is make an error, because there’s so much at stake. The last thing Zach wanted to do was receive an answer from a woman who had no desire to be a mother and who lacked love for the little boy who’d joined his life and had planted seeds of untold love in his heart.

September 20, 1881 • Boston

McKenzie thumbed through the pages of the Boston Herald until she came to the section of listings written by men seeking women to travel west to become their brides. What they had to offer was just what she would need during her rescue mission: money for the trip and a place to stay, as well as the help of a man in finding Kaydie and taking her away from her husband once she’d been found. Becoming a mail-order bride seemed like a viable way of fulfilling these needs.

McKenzie sighed as she gazed at the overwhelming list, spaced in perfect columns. Her eyes had a difficult time focusing on the endless calls for brides. When she realized there was more than one page of listings to peruse, she fought the dizziness threatening to overwhelm her. Was she really succumbing to this? She felt momentarily sick at the thought. It will all be worth it to have Kaydie back, she reassured herself. Having a place to stay while she searched for her sister was crucial. There weren’t hotels in many of the towns in Montana Territory, and there was no telling how long it might take her to find Kaydie.

As her eyes searched the newspaper print, McKenzie mentally dismissed all the advertisements posted by lonely miners in California. The thought of being wed to a gold-grubbing man disgusted her. She could only imagine the filthy lifestyle she’d be forced to endure. Besides, most of those men were likely twice her age, and the idea of marrying a man old enough to be her father was repulsive. Yes, she had limits, even when it came to saving her sister. There was only so much sacrificing she could and would do. There was only so much she would force herself to endure, even if it was to be temporary.