In all her excitement Jenny had forgotten the one person who meant everything to her-James. What would become of him if she left? Immediately, Jenny knew that leaving James would not do. She would not leave him with her father; otherwise, she would never know a moment of peace. She thought of the cowboy. Very few men would agree to marry someone with a child. What would she do?
First things first. Jenny got a paper and pen and wrote the letter. She corrected it and rewrote it until it was a perfect as it could be. Then she sealed it, ready for posting.
Chapter Three
Jake approached the new stallion, which had arrived on the ranch just a couple of hours before. He had strong features, and when he saw Jake approach the stall, he locked eyes with him. The stallion was alone in the barn; the other six mares were out with the ranch hands seeing to the herd.
He touched its thick golden mane and stroked it softly, murmuring soothing words. Jake took a brush from a wooden chest and used to brush the stallion down. He started with the neck, using quick long motions. That done, he went to the well, which stood between the barn and the house, and filled two pails with water. He then slid each pail at the ends of the pole.
As he carried the water back to the barn, his mind strayed to the letter he had received this morning. It was the fourth reply he had received from his advert. So far Jake had replied to none, but tonight, he would make a decision. He wanted a wife, someone to share his life with and to make a family.
Life in the ranch was lonely. On the advice of his friend, he had gone to all the social places, but one thing struck him, where there were ten men, only one was a woman. The women that he saw were the hard type, hardly suited to domestic life. He had no problem getting their interest, for he had been told several times that he was easy on the eye, but he knew straight out, that these types of women were not what he wanted in a wife. Then he heard about placing an advert for a mail order bride.
Jake hated to jump into a situation without knowing what he was getting himself into. This mail order bride business was a risk. He could end up with a wild woman or worse, a lazy one, and what could he do about it, nothing. Still, he had prayed about it and he believed that the Lord would lead him to the right person for him. He pushed his mind away from his potential bride. He saddled his own stallion, a black horse with an attitude and which only Jake could ride. He wanted to inspect the herd due to be sold and see if there were any that looked unhealthy.
He galloped out of the barn, on his left, the double story ranch house, which stood empty until he returned in the evening. He had a nice stretch of land, which he was proud of. It stretched out over a hill and on the side of the ranch house was a cluster of wooded land, which provided much needed shade for the porch.
The herd was divided into two, the one due for sale smaller than the other group. He made for the western pasture, where he saw the cows grazing contentedly, two ranch hands on horses keeping an eye. Coyotes were common around these parts, and they could gang up on a lone cow and kill it. The loss of even one cow made an impact on the profitability of the ranch, although for the seven years since he bought the ranch, Jake had been lucky.
He knew ranch owners who had lost as much as five hundred heads of cattle in a drive, forcing them to sell up. Jake himself never enjoyed the drives, they were too full of risk and he was only too glad when the railway reached them and the drives ended. Now, to get the cows to the markets in the East simply involved getting them on the train. Things were so much easier now.
Jake had quite a bit of savings which he steadily used to increase his herd. The only thing missing now was a wife. That evening, tired after a hard day's job, Jake entered the ranch house through the kitchen door. It was already dark, and his shadow was cast against the wall. He washed his hands in the wooden sink, fetching water from a huge drum near the sink. Next, he lit a kerosene lamp and used the light to get a chunk of cold meat and bread for his dinner.
It was too much to cook at this time. The best he could do was put the kettle on the still warm fire for a mug of tea. When the tea was ready, he poured it out into a mug and sat down at the table. He chewed, ignoring the bland taste of his dinner. When he finished, he washed it down with the hot tea. His stomach full, he remembered the letters under a pull out drawer on the table. He took them out and read them again.
The one from the girl in New York stood out. She was a Christian and honest about not knowing how a ranch was run. She was more of a city girl but was hard working and ready to learn. Her name was Jenny Garner. She told him about the death of her mother and how she lived with a father who drank too much. He liked that she wrote matter of fact, with no self-pity.
She had always longed for her own family and this was her opportunity to start life on a clean slate. He understood that more than anybody. His father too had been a drunk. His mother had run way when Jake was five and his brother Mathew only three. He thought back to those early years without someone to care for them and his heart hardened.
The constant gnawing hunger and the dirt until Jake learned to wash himself and his brother. The church had been their refuge. They got second hand clothes as well food from members of the church, and for that Jake was forever grateful. A neighbor, a kindly woman had taken them on and taught them how to read and write along with her four sons.
Unfortunately, Mathew did not make it to adulthood. When he was thirteen, he had contracted the deadly yellow fever and died soon after. What saddened Jake was that all his life, his brother had not known a moment of happiness. How he wished Mathew had grown up and come with him to the West.
Jake stayed on for two more years and when he heard that there were opportunities for young people out West, he had saved up and taken a coach. He had worked as a ranch hand for several years, all the while looking out for opportunities.
The opportunity came in the form of a man who was tired of ranching and wanted to go to California to prospect for gold. Jake bought the five hundred acre ranch in several installments, and then worked for another year or so, until he bought his own herd. Years later, he was where he had always dreamed to be-with his own ranch and cattle.
He understood Jenny's need to go off and start life elsewhere. His father still drunk and Jake regularly sent him some money for his needs. He could never bring himself to cut the ties with the only family he had left.
Jake realized that he had made up his mind. He gave a cursory glance to the other letters, and then shoved them back into the drawer. Having decided whom he wanted, Jake wrote, inviting her to Montana, and when he finished he enclosed two hundred dollars for Jenny to buy necessities and whatever she needed for the move.
He knew from experience with a drunkard father, that she probably owned very little and the money would take her a long way. He felt accomplished when the letter was sealed, and to his surprise, a feeling of excitement. This would be a new chapter in his life, a happy one he hoped. The peace in his heart told Jake that he had done the right thing.
How did this Jenny look? As much as he admired beautiful women, physical beauty was not a priority for him. What he wanted the most was a kind and an honest lady. A lady with a good heart and was hard working. Life on a ranch was hard work and everybody chipped in so that it could run smoothly.
He worried that she had never even lived on a farm. What if she hated it here? Jake chuckled to himself. There were so many ways his plan could go wrong. The best thing for him was to trust in the Lord and know that all would be well.
From the same pullout drawer, he fished out his old and worn bible and turned to his favorite book and verse. For I know the plans that have for you, declares the Lord, Plans to do you good and not evil.
Chapter Four
Jenny sat on her bed, her hands trembling as she held the dollar bills in her hands. She had never seen so much money all her life. She read the letter again. His name was Jake and he wanted to marry her. She closed her eyes and said a quick prayer of thanks. If she had had any doubts before, they were gone.
The Lord was with her and guiding her path. She thought of her father and as though a curtain had opened she understood why he was the way he was. He had steered away from the Lord. If only she could make him see that he only had to open his heart, and the Lord was right there waiting to enter his life.
How else could you explain all this? Jenny looked at the letter and the money. Jake had probably received many letters from interested women, yet he had picked her, a person he knew nothing about and who had never lived on a ranch. She inhaled deeply and for the first time in weeks, she smiled to herself.
A loud knock on the door interrupted her musings and she quickly shoved the bills and the letter back in the envelope. She straightened her shabby brown dress and rushed out of her bedroom. James stood to the side to let someone in. It was her Aunty Florence.