The Brides of Golden Valley Box Set 1 Read online

It was busy inside as people put in orders, searched through the items on shelves, and talked with friends.

  “I need to go talk to Clarence. You’re welcome to look around.” Nathaniel smiled down at her.

  Madeline nodded. “Good luck.”

  She hoped the butter would sell well. If not, she’d just have to remember to wrap it the next time. While the other women gathered around the gloves, hats, and fabric, Madeline wandered over to the parchment and writing utensils. Her ink was almost dry so she would need to replace it, and one could never have too much paper.

  When Nathaniel finally caught up to her, Madeline held a pile of paper, an inkwell, and a feather pen since her other was also worn. “I see you’ve already found what you’d like.”

  “Only if we have enough.” Madeline glanced down at the paper. “I can put some back if needed.”

  “Keep it. It seems that your bucket of butter was quite a hit. He would like us to provide him with more if possible, and he even provided more buckets.” Nathaniel grinned and checked the price of a couple of the sewing machines. “He also asked for more potatoes. It seems that he has a buyer looking for some on the other side of the Snake River.”

  “That’s wonderful news.” Madeline beamed. “Shall we get the rest of what we need then?”

  Nathan pulled out several coins and a few bills. “I need to go next door to order some more feed for the livestock. You order what we need, and I’ll be back soon. Pick out the sewing machine you’d like. I don’t know what type you’ve used before.”

  “All right.” Madeline hadn’t handled this much money since she’d left her parents’ house. She waved goodbye to him and went to the front of the store. “Hello. I’d like to buy these supplies, but I also need a few other things. May I get a list to order from?”

  The man handed her a sheet of paper. “Please step aside while you fill it out and I’ll be right with you.”

  She nodded. “All right.”

  Madeline had only been there since the day before, so she wasn’t sure what they needed exactly. She decided to go for the staples, and then added a few shirts and pants for Nathaniel, along with a good pair of boots. She’d noticed the holes in his others that morning and knew he probably wouldn’t buy more on his own. She also took note of the styles of dresses in the store to see if she had anything she could sell to trade for something simpler. No need for the ball gowns if she was going to be out working on the farm. Perhaps she would even try some pants, so she didn’t ruin the bottom of all of her gowns.

  She added a few candles, thread, and wax to the list, then wrote down the brand and model of the machine she wanted. Once she was sure she had everything, she stood in line. Two women in front of her gossiped about who was dating whom, the scandals in the city, and whether or not it would be a hard winter. It was a relief when they walked off with their purchases, but as they left the store, Madeline caught the word ‘war’ from one of them. She frowned.

  The civil war had ended years before and she had heard nothing of another war. Her reporter brain spun as she tried to figure out what it could be.

  “Ma’am? It’s your turn.” The store owner’s voice broke through Madeline’s thoughts.

  “Sorry.” Madeline handed the list to him and made sure the paper and other supplies were added. She leaned forward while he ran through the order. “Excuse me. Those two women mentioned something about a war. I’ve been traveling for the last few weeks, so I have been away from the news. Could you please tell me what’s going on?”

  The man sniffed. “It’s about men unwilling to share land with others. I’d advise you to stay away from it.”

  “Are we in danger?” Madeline set the money on the counter.

  “Only if you own sheep or cattle.” The man rang up the purchases and took the money, handing back a couple of coins. “Nathaniel is a good man and will keep you safe, but it never hurts to learn to shoot a gun. I suggest you do so.”

  Madeline’s mouth went dry. They owned several cows from what she understood. “Why would I need to do that?”

  “Trust me. It’s wise.” The owner—Clarence?—finally met her eyes and smiled. “We’re gathering your inventory now. It should be ready in five minutes if you would like to wait.”

  “Thank you.” Madeline stepped back and held tightly to her paper. She already had a few writing projects to work on, but if there really was something to this war, she wanted to know everything about it. Nathaniel stood outside a store talking with someone, so Madeline went out to meet him. “They’re finishing up now.”

  Nathaniel slipped his arm through Madeline’s. “Wonderful. Madeline, this is Joshua. I told you about him the other day. He’s going to help me with the cattle until we get things going smoothly. They’re still establishing their land, so they could use the money.”

  Madeline held out a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Joshua.”

  “Nathaniel tells me that you are from New York City. I wondered if you’d ever met Charlotte there.”

  She smiled and shook her head. “New York is too big. Even if we lived next door, I might not know her. I do know that she makes delicious jam.”

  “Ah, she gave you some then.” Joshua grinned. “It was a trial to get the jams to taste as they do now, but it was worth the practice. You two will have to make some together sometime.”

  “That would be wonderful.” Madeline glanced up at Nathaniel. “I’m going to check on our order.”

  Nathaniel reached out and shook Joshua’s hand. “I will see you tomorrow. You’re welcome to bring Charlotte and William with you. I’m sure Madeline would like the company.”

  Joshua grinned. “Charlotte would like that at some point, I’m sure. She’s trying to keep up with the canning from our garden. I will let her know, though.”

  Madeline felt a pang of disappointment, but understood. She’d have company soon enough. Besides, she had plenty of her own work to do. There would be time to visit later. Madeline walked into the store to find a pile of packages sat on the counter. A larger box with her sewing machine sat to the side. She reached forward to help take things out to the cart, but by the glares, that wasn’t how things worked.

  Nathaniel leaned down. “Will you make sure they got all of the potatoes out of the back of the wagon? I’ll stay here and run through the list of items you ordered one more time.”

  “All right.” Madeline went back out and leaned over the side of the wagon. The potatoes were all unloaded, and it was slowly being filled with their new purchases. She climbed up onto the wagon and waited for Nathaniel. Waiting for someone else to do something for her grated on her nerves, but she decided that just came from living on her own for so long.

  Nathaniel burst out of the store with a grin on his face. He jumped up next to Madeline and pulled away from the curb. As they headed back out of town, he pulled a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her.

  Madeline glanced over at him and unfolded the paper. It was a job advertisement to write for the small local paper. “Do you think they’d actually let me work for them?”

  “From what Clarence told me, this job has been open for several weeks. I don’t know that they can be picky by this time.” Nathaniel flicked the reigns. “It’s up to you, but I thought you might like to know about it.”

  “This is wonderful.” Madeline could possibly use a few of the pieces she’d planned to send back to New York for the paper here instead. But first she needed to find time to write. She hadn’t really sat down to relax since she’d arrived the day before. “Joshua seems nice.”

  Nathaniel nodded. “Both Joshua and Charlotte are good people. I’m glad I can help them out a little. It’s shaping up to be a pretty rough winter, and they could use the money to buy warm clothes for themselves and their little one.”

  “If she needs more gowns, she can have some of mine. Otherwise I will trade them for others the next time we go to town.” Madeline readjusted her bonnet as a gust of wind hit
them. “Oh, dear.”

  “Looks like the good weather is on its way out already.” Nathaniel nodded toward the south. “Those clouds don’t look good. Hopefully they’ll bring rain and not snow quite yet.”

  Madeline shifted in her seat. “Perhaps we should go a little faster? Much of what we have in the back won’t do well in rain. Or snow.”

  Nathaniel flicked the reins. “The packaging will keep a lot of the moisture out, but you’re right. We should hurry.”

  The clouds brought more wind with them, along with a cool breeze. Nathaniel had been right about the weather. Madeline shivered as they arrived home. She helped run everything inside to put them away. Nathaniel left the house to take Lucky out to the barn, so Madeline searched cupboards to figure out where everything belonged.

  A gust of wind rocked the house. Madeline gasped in fear. She wasn’t sure it was supposed to do that. Wind hadn’t gotten quite this bad in New York except for when a hurricane passed through, but the stone building she’d lived in had never rocked like this.

  The door blew open and Nathaniel rushed inside. He had to push hard to get the door to shut, then latched it. “We’re in for a bigger storm than I’d thought. Grab the paper from the groceries so we can shove it into any gaps around the windows and doors.”

  Madeline nodded and did what he said. There weren’t many gaps that she could find, but she did what she could. Nathaniel had to have done this a few times before, because he knew exactly where the paper needed to go.

  “I’ll need to add more daubing between the logs when the storm blows itself out, but this will do for now.” Nathaniel stopped by the sewing machine. “This one looks nice. You know how to work it?”

  “It’s like the one my mother had, but it has a few more knobs that I’ll need to figure out.” Madeline could picture her mother sitting at the machine, sewing blankets, dresses, or anything else they needed. That had been before Father’s business had taken off and she started buying everything instead.

  Nathaniel took out a couple of candles. “These will do nicely. I’m glad you bought them. My other candles were getting low on wax.”

  “I had noticed.” Madeline smiled and went for the package that held her writing supplies. Those would go on the small table so she could write. With the storm coming in, she’d hopefully have some time that night to work. “If we save all of the wax from the old ones, I can make new candles from them.”

  Nathaniel opened a cupboard and pulled out a box full of candle ends. “I have a few of those. I just never got around to making new ones.”

  Madeline laughed. “I think that’ll do.”

  ***

  The wind continued, bringing in pelting rain. Madeline washed the last of the dishes from dinner and set it aside. The stress of what the storm was doing to the crops outside was evident in the way Nathaniel paced between measuring and cutting wood for the wardrobe he insisted on building.

  She dried her hands. “Would you like help?”

  “No, I have it. Could you light another candle? It’s getting darker in here.” Nathaniel drew a line on the board in front of him.

  Madeline pulled out a plate and set a candle on it. This one would go in the collection to melt down by the end of the night. “Do you think this storm will blow out soon?”

  He shook his head. “With how late it is in the season, it’s going to be here for a while. I’m just hoping we can get the last of the potatoes out before the ground freezes.”

  “We don’t have anything else to do tomorrow. We can go out there all day and get it done. Maybe Joshua can come and help with it as well.” Madeline hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder. “Things will work out.”

  Nathaniel’s shoulders relaxed under her touch. “I know. But sometimes it doesn’t. At least we got some put into storage before the storm hit.”

  “And soon we’ll have enough milk to make several buckets of butter and cheese for the general store, so there’s that.” Madeline found the fabric she’d bought for curtains and unrolled it the best she could on the table since the floor was occupied by Nathaniel’s project. The material was heavy and thick, which would be perfect for keeping out the cold for the winter and the heat in the summer.

  She would need one for each window. Two in the living room, a small one in the kitchen, and two in the bedroom. With any luck, this would be enough for all of them, but she’d start with the bedroom first. The living room and kitchen had the wood stove that helped keep them warm.

  Madeline took the thread and went into the bedroom to measure the width and height she’d need, then cut the fabric to that length. Once those two were cut out, she measured the living room windows. There was just enough for one of those and the kitchen window. They would have to get more when they went to town next. But for now, this would work.

  The machine was a little more complicated than the one she’d grown up with, but soon, she had the first curtain ready to go. Hopefully the rods that Nathaniel had hung for the other curtains would hold these. The fabric was much heavier. She set the first one aside and moved on to the next. This was one thing she could sew with no troubles. Straight line all the way around and then fold over the top for the curtain rod. Sewing dresses, shirts, or pants on the other hand, were much more difficult and she hadn’t quite mastered them.

  The humming of the sewing machine harmonized with the sawing of the boards from Nathaniel. It was loud, but it was comforting. Just like the buzz of conversation in the common room back home.

  It wasn’t until she’d finished the curtain for the window that Madeline realized the sawing had stopped. She stretched her neck to get rid of the knots that had formed from sitting in one spot for too long.

  Strong fingers moved around her neck and slowly rubbed along her shoulders. “I can already feel the warmth from the curtains. Thank you for making them.”

  Madeline looked up at Nathaniel in surprise. “You already hung them?”

  “Let’s just say the rods weren’t securely fastened so it was easy enough to take off the old curtains and put on the new ones.” Nathaniel bent down and kissed her head. “I didn’t want to get sawdust all over the curtains you just made.”

  “Thank you for hanging them. And for the sewing machine. It works wonderfully.” Madeline stood and moved the sewing machine over to the small desk. She went into the bedroom to admire her handiwork. The curtains hung down to just an inch above the ground. Nathaniel was right. The room was already much warmer.

  Once they could get the last of the fabric, they would be set for the winter. Madeline turned to find Nathaniel standing in the doorway.

  “You keep doing that.” Madeline laughed. “How do you get around so quietly?”

  “When you live with animals who like to follow you for as long as I have, you get used to sneaking around.” Nathaniel stepped into the room and pulled her close. “Should we go hang the others?”

  Madeline smiled up at him. “We’re missing one, but we can hang the other two. Don’t you have a wardrobe to build?”

  He shrugged. “Yes, but that can wait. I need some tools and more wood before I can do anything else with it.”

  “Ah.” Madeline pulled away and went into the living room where her curtains rested on the couch. “Which window do you think we should cover first? Both are around the same size, so it just depends one which one will help more?”

  “With it being this late in the year, I’m not sure it will matter, but let’s put it on the north side because the sun will shine longer on the south and will keep it warmer.” Nathaniel pulled down the old curtains and Madeline held up the new ones to hang. When he was ready, she handed them to him, and went to pull down the one over the sink.

  Madeline cleaned up the rest of the sewing supplies and pulled out her pen and paper. She hoped to get some writing done that night so that everything would be fresh on her mind.

  “Does this look straight?” Nathaniel called from the kitchen.

  She turned and studied it
. “Looks good to me.”

  “What else are you working on tonight?” Nathaniel glanced toward the desk.

  “I was going to do some writing. Post takes a while to get to New York, and it’ll take longer with the weather, so I wanted to get this next article sent as soon as possible.”

  Nathaniel nodded. “I’ll let you do that then. I’m going to run out and check on the livestock to make sure they’re safe inside their stalls.”

  Madeline took his coat off the hook and handed it to him. “Be careful out there. Sounds like the wind is still pretty heavy.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m worried about.” Nathaniel bent down and kissed her on the cheek. “I may be out there for a while depending on the damage that’s been done. Don’t wait up.”

  Madeline reached for her coat. “I can help—”

  “I’d rather that you stay inside. The cattle don’t know you yet, so right now is not the time to try.” Nathaniel reached up and caressed her cheek. “Please just keep the fire stoked. The light from the windows will help me see where I’m going.”

  Madeline bit her lip as he opened the door, the wind nearly ripping it out of his hand. It took both of them to close it again and she had to latch it to keep it shut. He hadn’t even taken a lantern out with him. Hopefully there was one in the barn.

  She pulled the curtains back so he could have more light and shivered at the cold emanating from the windows. They’d have to find a way to seal them better. With that done, Madeline forced herself to sit down to write.

  The mail order bride movement seems like a strange concept when you first think about it, but then, arranged marriages were once a thing—and you can still find them in many countries. When I first heard of the idea, I almost brushed it off as well. But since I love my job, I decided to give it a chance. That’s right. I put in an advertisement and had someone order my hand in marriage through mail. Barbaric if you think of it that way.

  So, what is the advantage of this practice? You can find a spouse, of course. But there are other perks as well. Want a chance to own land, women? This is your chance. Want to vote? Some states have started allowing women to do so if they travel for that reason.