’Cause right now there’s a major draught in Kansas. Thirty thousand men are on the trails, lookin’ for water. Dodge City’s still wet, but most of central and east Kansas is dry, and some men there’ll kill you for your canteen. By dressin’ like men, carryin’ guns, we’ll have a show of force. At least we’ll appear to, from a distance.”

“I heard you’re bringing a mail-order bride,” Emma said.

“Word travels fast.”

She shrugged. “It’s Rolla.”

“She gonna ride in the buckboard with us?” Hester asked.

“At some point she probably will.”

“Does she know it?”

“Not yet.”

“Can I be there when you tell her?”

I grinned. “Nope.”

 


 

 

 

9.

 

I had a drink at Lick and Casey’s, then got a room on the second floor of the Mountain View Hotel, overlookin’ Main Street. After stowin’ my gear, I chose a corner table in the hotel restaurant and ordered a beefsteak. It was early yet, and the other customers were seated on the far side of the room, at the bar, with their backs to me. The waiter left to place my order, and I settled into my seat, thinkin’, this is how life ought to be! No gun hands, no drunken cowboys spoilin’ for a fight, no quick-draw kids tryin’ to make their reps off me. I’d enjoy a good steak, some beans and taters, a couple drinks, and get a good night’s sleep in a real bed with clean sheets. No ticks, spiders, snakes or scorpions to worry over. In the mornin’ I’d have a hot bath, shave, and haircut while they wash my laundry. Then what, maybe ask Phoebe Thayer to lunch? That was a happy thought.

A young lady entered the restaurant, looked in my direction, hesitated, then approached my table. She seemed nervous.

“Mr. Love?”

“Yes?”

“I’m Jenny Palmer. May I sit with you a moment?”

“You may. Can I buy you dinner?”

“That’s very kind of you, but no. I have business to discuss.”

I nodded at the chair across from me. She looked around the room before takin’ it, and when she sat, she scooted as close to the table as she could get.

“How can I help you, Miss Palmer?”

She placed an envelope on the table between us, and said, “Are you familiar with a town called Grand Junction?”

“Never been there, but I heard of it,” I said. “Heard they got a new stage coach.”

“That’s right.”

There was no one within hearin’ distance, but she lowered her voice anyway. “Last year I began corresponding with a man named Roy Ellsworth, who has a ranch four miles south of there. In April, my friend Sophie and I took the first stage from Kansas City to Grand Junction.”

“How’d you get to Kansas City?”

“We took the train from St. Louis.”

“That weren’t cheap.”

“My father paid our fare.”

She went quiet a minute.

I said, “Then what happened?”

“The purpose of my trip was to meet Mr. Ellsworth, to see if there might be a marital connection between us.”

“Your friend went with you?”

Jenny nodded. “Sophie felt if I could find love there, perhaps she could, too. We’ve always been best friends, and thought it would be grand if the two of us could marry men who lived close to each other. We had dreams of raising our children on neighboring ranches. I suppose that sounds silly to you.”

“Not at all.