Mail Order Barbara (Widows, Brides, and Secret Babies Book 14) Read online

  The sisters closed their meeting with a prayer for guidance. The sooner they started the better, so Sister Frances headed to the kitchens to discuss the tea party plan with Sister Beatrice, and Sister Bridget requested and received permission to ask Barbara join her to pen personal invitations to each of the girls.

  CHAPTER 12 – Westward, Ho?

  As Mother Evangeline walked into the room, followed by Sisters Benedicta, Bridget, Frances, and Agatha, the girls dropped into silence.

  “Good evening, my dears,” Mother greeted them. “I'm sure most of you have a pretty good idea why we asked you to join us. And thus you are also aware of the gravity of the situation, which I will clarify in a minute.

  “But first, as is our custom, let us invite The Lord to join us.”

  Hands reached out to grasp one another as heads bowed.

  “Dearest Heavenly Father, please look down upon us and guide us in Your wisdom to the best solution for the situation in which we find ourselves. Please open each girl's heart to her own mind that she may make the best decision for herself and those she loves. We thank You for Your everlasting caring and love.”

  There quickly followed a chorus of “amens” and then the girls looked up again.

  “All right, I know you've all heard the rumors flying about concerning a new edict from the Board of Governors. We will not be discussing the edict directly, but how we will be responding.

  “We,” she glanced around at her fellow sisters, “believe that if you are old enough to be asked to live on your own, then you are old enough to make your own decisions about how you wish to spend the rest of your lives. We have done our best to prepare you for a variety of possibilities ranging from marriage and family to jobs. However, we had intended that you would have additional time to allow nature to take its course and assist you in selecting which option you wished to start with.

  “It is that time which has been taken away so cruelly. There are a rather large number of you who will all be looking to enter the workforce at the same time, and I believe only a few of you are courting at this time. We would like to lay out a few options for you and listen to your own suggestions of ideas to weather this storm.”

  Despite their strict training, a number of the girls could not resist the urge to start twittering to each other. Mother Evangeline paused and stood silent, looking at her audience until it had resumed silence and the young ladies were again giving her their full attention.

  “First of all, we have been talking with local shopkeepers and various houses to determine what positions might be available to you. Anyone who wishes to pursue this course should talk with Sister Benedicta. But we don't expect anyone to make a decision hastily, and wish you to take the time to discuss with each other and with any of the other young ladies here who might be able to offer their wisdom to assist you. Each of us is more than ready to listen or answer questions.

  ‘I realize that one or two of you may have other arrangements already in hand. Please share with me or any of us so we know that you are properly settled.”

  Here she paused and looked around the room. Mother Evangeline chuckled inwardly at the varied expressions of concern, bemusement, but, most of all, repressed excitement.

  “We do have a third option made available to us. I believe most of you know that I have a brother who is in charge of a parish in a town called Green River, in the state of Kansas. He has long extolled its virtues and has come to me with a proposal for those of you who feel adventurous and wish to travel west. In effect, he is suggesting you might wish to become mail order brides.”

  A collective gasp was followed by a rustling as the girls restrained themselves from speaking, anxious to learn more details. After another pause, Mother Evangeline continued.

  “Several of the ranches in his area have recently expanded and have an influx of male employees who are of similar ages to yourself, and in search of stability and marriage. And this opportunity to move west will not be limited to those who wish to become brides. There are also a number of job opportunities in the town thanks to this influx of new residents.

  “However,” and here she paused dramatically once more, and looked at each girl individually, “please keep in mind that Kansas is rural. Green River is not a big city, but merely a small town serving the local ranch community. Most of you have never been in the country. Although the spaces are wide and open, big buildings simply do not exist, most of the streets will not be paved, and many of the amenities you take for granted here, like running water, and lights, are simply not available.

  “This city is hot and crowded in the summer and cold and crowded in the winter, but there is a great deal of vibrancy from people of all walks of life. Options in the country may be, perhaps, more limited, and certainly different from what you know.

  “So you can see you have a great deal to talk and think about.” Giving a nod to Sister Frances, she invited her young ladies to partake of the tea and cakes being brought in.

  CHAPTER 13 – Discussions

  Gracie

  The girls clustered together, all chatting at once, but gradually split into smaller groups, depending on their closest friendships.

  Despite the fevered pitch of the conversations, Sister Benedicta noted with approval that appetites remained excellent. And, as had been anticipated, the first to break away to talk with her were Gracie and Clara. They had seemed a bit at odds but had obviously come to some sort of agreement, as each had nodded her head before sweeping each other in an embrace.

  As they approached, Sister gestured toward a chair and settee in the window which were presently unoccupied and the three sat down for a discussion.

  Gracie began, blushing and stammering slightly. “You . . . you know Clara’s brother, Jack, and I have been courting.”

  Sister Benedicta nodded and smiled. He’d had the courtesy to see her first, several months ago, to request permission to visit with Gracie.

  Heaving a great sigh, Gracie continued.

  “He’s asked me to marry him now that he’s finished his apprenticeship. His new position includes lodgings above the shop and he thinks they may hire me to help with ladies’ notions, at least,” she colored very prettily, “until we start a family.”

  “I take it you said yes?” Sister enquired dryly.

  A beatific expression radiated from Gracie’s pretty countenance.

  “Oh, yes, Sister! He was going to drop by to see you after work today to make arrangements.”

  “And when were you planning on having the ceremony?”

  A worried look creased her brow.

  “That’s one of the things Clara and I were trying to work out. Clara thinks we should all go west, but I like it here where most of my friends are,” Gracie shot a reproachful look at Clara, “and Jack has wonderful prospects here. However, I agreed to discuss it with him before coming to a final decision.

  “But whether we stay or go, I would want to be married first, so I guess the wedding will need to be before the trip.”

  Sister nodded thoughtfully.

  “There will be a great many things to be arranged, but I think we can include your wedding among them.”

  Turning her head to Clara who had remained silent thus far, Sister Benedicta raised her eyebrows and enquired, “And what of you, my dear?”

  “I’m for Kansas,” Clara declared stoutly. “The newlyweds will not be wanting a sister-in-law crowding their flat and I have yet to meet anyone here . . . any gentleman here . . . who would give me cause to remain in town. I would love to have an adventure before I settle down!”

  Her eyes sparkled and her mouth spread into a grin which she quickly reformed into the polite smile deemed appropriate no matter the occasion for rejoicing. Sister laughed to see Sister Bridget’s strictures at work, and Clara joined her. Looking fondly at the girl, she remembered how she had come to join the orphans.

  Clara

  When Clara Harper’s father had died, her mother had taken on work as a l
aundry maid and, although she was the youngest of the three children, the household had become Clara’s responsibility. She did her best to keep things clean and neat and scraped together meals from the scraps they could afford.

  Her oldest brother, Tommy, had run off to join the army. Since he couldn’t read or write, it was not a surprise when they didn’t hear from him, although she often thought of him. He’d given her the occasional penny candy, and piggy-back rides, and she remembered him as very handsome.

  Then her mother had started coughing. At first it was only a bit, although she seemed to have trouble breathing at night, but as the cough got worse her mother got progressively weaker. And then one day she coughed and blood soaked the rag she used as a handkerchief.

  That time all sort of ran together. Looking back, her one clear memory was holding her brother Jack’s hand, standing beside the grave as her mother was laid to rest in the potter’s field, a nun standing next to her, and one of the brother’s from the St. Francis School for Boys flanking her brother. And then the children were separated and she’d joined the other female orphans at Our Lady of Mercy.

  Margaret and Elizabeth

  Margaret and Elizabeth were the oldest and youngest of the eligible girls. At nearly nineteen, the only reason Margaret was still at the orphanage was to keep an eye on her sister Elizabeth, who was barely sixteen.

  Margaret dearly wanted to go and was excited at the prospect of getting away from the city. The only thing holding her back was her baby sister. Lizzie wasn’t slow exactly but she was awfully young for her age, and really not ready to be in charge of her own life. But she was wonderful with animals and had been placed in charge of the chickens.

  Officially there were no pets allowed at the orphanage, but occasionally a stray would find its way into the bed of one girl or another. As long as the kittens and puppies were picked up after, a blind eye was turned to having one or two in the house. The other children knew Lizzie was the one to turn to for help, should any issues develop.

  Lizzie wasn’t particularly interested in going anywhere until she learned that there were lots of animals on farms. At that point she would have been happy to leave on the next train.

  Sister Bridget smiled at the girls who now chattered eagerly about the mystery and adventure that awaited them in Kansas.

  Katherine and Maria

  Katherine and Maria had been best friends their whole lives. Their families lived next door to each other in a crowded tenement and they played together in the streets and treated each other’s families as their own. They were poor but not starving, and both were loving families.

  Then tragedy struck, in the form of smallpox, which decimated the families in their building, wiping out many. The girls had been the sole survivors in their own families, saved when a visiting nurse had plucked them from among the dead and dying and delivered them to the Nursery at Our Lady of Mercy, where they were placed with several other infected children and kept isolated.

  Only a handful of that group had survived and, once the crisis had passed and other family members found, only Maria and Katherine remained behind. Although their bodies bore the scars of their disease, both were fortunate that their faces had remained nearly unblemished.

  While the food at the orphanage was good and wholesome, it was not the warm and comforting cabbage and potatoes with a fleck of corned beef to be found in Katherine’s house, nor the red-sauced pasta they’d enjoyed at Maria’s. But the girls were now getting an education and soon became accustomed to their new lives.

  A very young Sister Teresa Rose, who had been trained in nursing at the Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia, had grown quite fond of the two as she’d aided them in their recovery and then consoled them in their grief as they realized everyone they’d known and loved was gone.

  After Mother Evangeline’s meeting with her closest advisors, the entire convent had gathered together after supper to discuss the coming changes and options. Opinions varied from shocked to approving when the mail-order bride concept was put forth, but despite their relatively cloistered lives these were women of intelligence and vision, carrying on the traditions of their founders and moving forward with the times.

  The general consensus was that the proposal should, indeed, be put forward to the young ladies to determine its practicality for their individual situations. So Sister Teresa Rose was not surprised to be visited by Katherine and Maria following the evening gathering at which the news had been broken.

  On one thing the girls were agreed. They would prefer not to lose the only family they had left, albeit of heart, not blood. But while the novelty of traveling and meeting new people was intriguing, each did have a decent job. The question of housing, were they to remain, was an issue, and the girls thought they should explore the idea of sharing someplace while Katherine continued her position at the café and Maria spent her days in the Schmidt nursery.

  And besides, Maria had become quite fond of the Schmidt’s groom, who had his own place above the stable which, he had hinted, was large enough for a wife. At barely seventeen, Maria simply wasn’t ready to settle down, no matter how appealing Tony’s dimple when he smiled.

  But, room for a wife did not mean room for a friend besides.

  “You don’t need to decide your whole future in the next ten minutes,” laughed Sister Teresa Rose. “There is still plenty of time to talk about this—and pray on it!—and decide what appeals to you most.

  “And, Maria, in all fairness, you should also discuss this with Tony. I think I can arrange for the use of a parlor—open door, of course—if you would care to have him come to see you after work.”

  Over the next few days, arrangements were made and Tony came to visit Maria at the orphanage. He looked around in awe, not expecting that the public areas of the orphanage would look like any of the better homes in the city. Of course, working with the horses he was far more familiar with the stables than the interior of most house, but he had occasionally been called into Mr. Schmidt’s office to discuss horses or travel plans, and had seen into the doorways as he had delivered his passengers to various establishments.

  Maria had rather expected Tony would press his suit and again ask her to marry him, but his reaction to the present turn of events took her by surprise.

  “Oh, Maria, what an opportunity! What a wonderful chance to make more of yourself than being someone’s maid, at her beck and call. You must go west to freedom. I only wish I could go with you!”

  “Well, why not? Any stable would be pleased to have as experienced a horseman as you!”

  Much struck by the thought, Tony rocked back in his seat and looked at Maria with admiration.

  “I had been saving for our marriage, but I suppose I have enough set aside for the train fare. Do you think the Sisters would permit me to escort you ladies and, perhaps, help me to find a position?”

  Sister Teresa Rose had, at Maria’s request, been sitting in the next room, reading her bible. Her open door permitted her to keep the couple in sight while allowing them a private discussion.

  Katherine sat with her, involved in knitting a sweater for Emilene. Unlike most of the infants, who were kept in the Nursery, Emilene stayed with her mother, Emily, and was rather a pet among the older girls. Not that all the infants and toddlers didn’t get their fair share of attention, but Emilene was special.

  Maria, clearly restraining her excited impulse to burst through the door, knocked carefully and asked Sister and Katherine to join them. Hearing Tony’s plan, Sister smiled and, leaving Katherine to chaperone the couple, set off in search of Mother Evangeline.

  In short order, both women swept regally into the room, their habits making soft shushing noises. Tony popped up, bowed, and assisted the ladies to their seats. He had been one of the St. Francis boys and was still permitted to attend the monthly dances. The Brothers were as strict in their teaching of proper manners as the Sisters.

  “Thank you, Anthony.” Mother Evangeline graciously nodded
her head to him as she sat.

  The five of them discussed the pros and cons of Tony’s idea for a full half hour before Mother Evangeline finally nodded.

  “I will write to my brother at once to determine whether there might be a job for you as well, when I provide him the requirements of our ladies.”

  Tony’s face nearly split in half, his grin was so wide.

  “Mother, I have been praying for just such a chance. Thank you for your faith in me.”

  Mother Evangeline just shook her head and smiled. “All things are possible through prayer,” she reminded them, making eye contact with each. The girls, smiling nearly as broadly as Tony, ducked their heads shyly at Mother’s admonition.

  Samantha

  Samantha, Bernadette, and Christine had been included in the gathering although they were not yet sixteen. Normally Elizabeth was one of their number but on this occasion her sister had the stronger claim, so for now they carried on their discussion without her. They were unlikely confidantes but not only their ages but their personalities had meshed, making them the closest and most congenial of friends.

  They had been made to understand that they needn’t participate in any of the proposals until they finished their education, but being so close to the time when they, too, would be faced with expulsion from Our Lady of Mercy, they had been included in the gathering.

  Her own future had already been decided, so Samantha’s concern was for her friends. When she and her brothers had become orphaned, they were able to see each other regularly and there had been plans put in place for them before they had even moved into the orphanages.