Kathleen's Dream (Mail-Order Brides Of Prairie Meadow 1) Read online

  Kathleen’s Dream

  (Mail Order Brides of Prairie Meadow - Book 1)

  By: Maggie McCloud

  Copyright © 2015 Maggie McCloud

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Except for review quotes, this book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the author.

  This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real persons whether living or dead, or to actual events is purely coincidental. Names, characters, places, businesses, events, etc. are strictly a product of the author’s imagination.

  If you love reading about Mail Order Brides, you will enjoy the sweet, clean, inspirational romances of Maggie McCloud.

  And they are always FREE on Kindle Unlimited!

  ~~~~~~

  Other Books In This Series

  Betsy’s Hope: Mail Order Brides Of Prairie Meadow – Book 2

  Annie’s Chance: Mail Order Brides Of Prairie Meadow – Book 3

  Claire’s Escape: Mail Order Brides Of Prairie Meadow – Book 4 (Coming in Dec.)

  ~~~~~~

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  A Message From Maggie McCloud

  Other Books By Maggie McCloud

  Bonus Chapter – Betsy’s Hope

  Chapter 1

  “Good morning Kathleen,” said Mrs. Butler with a smile. “Please come in and sit down.”

  Mrs. Butler had asked Kathleen to come see her this morning before she set off for her job as a fabric cutter in the factory across town. Kathleen knew what Mrs. Butler was going to say and it filled her with apprehension.

  “Kathleen, as I’m sure you’re aware, the charter of the orphanage doesn’t allow you to stay once you reach the age of 18,” Mrs. Butler said gently.

  “Yes, Mrs. Butler. I do know that,” Kathleen said disconsolately.

  “My dear, I do wish we could make an exception for you. You have been with us for so long that you are like a member of our family.”

  “Perhaps I could pay for room and board with my earnings from the factory?” Kathleen asked hopefully.

  Mrs. Butler looked lovingly at Kathleen and said gently, “You know that is not allowed.” She sighed, looked down at her desktop and then up at Kathleen. “I’m afraid there is more. The job you currently hold ends when you leave the orphanage. It rarely comes to this as most of our charges have moved on and found new positions by the time they leave the orphanage.”

  Kathleen gasped as the realization of what that meant sank in. Not only would she have to move out of the only home she had ever known, but she would have no way of earning a living either. If she couldn’t find a job that paid enough, she could end up on the streets or in the poorhouse.

  She put her face in her hands and sobbed. Mrs. Butler came around her desk and put an arm around Kathleen. “There, there my dear girl.”

  “What am I going to do Mrs. Butler?”

  Mrs. Butler turned Kathleen’s face up and wiped the tears off her cheeks. “You go on to work. I will see if I can line up a job interview or two for you. In the meantime, try not to worry dear. I’m sure things will work out for the best.”

  In the weeks that followed, Kathleen went for several interviews. But none produced the job that she so desperately needed. Time was running short when once again Mrs. Butler asked Kathleen to stop in to see her.

  “How is the job search going Kathleen?” asked Mrs. Butler.

  “Honestly Mrs. Butler, it’s not going very well. I appreciate everything you have done to get me these interviews, but so far I haven’t had any luck in securing a position.”

  With tears in her eyes, Kathleen said, “I don’t know what else I can do.”

  “Oh dear. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this.” Mrs. Butler rustled some papers on her desk until she found what she was looking for.

  “How would you feel about moving?”

  “Moving where?” asked Kathleen.

  “Well that depends I guess. But it seems as if you might be able to choose your destination.”

  Kathleen was confused. Mrs. Butler wasn’t making any sense.

  “Let me explain dear,” said Mrs. Butler. “Do you remember Rebecca? She was about seventeen when you first came here to live.”

  Kathleen nodded.

  “Well,” said Mrs. Butler, “She found herself in a situation much like your own.”

  “What did she do, Mrs. Butler?” asked Kathleen.

  Holding up a copy of a newspaper, Mrs. Butler said, “This solved her problem, and from her frequent letters, it appears that she has been very happy.”

  With that Mrs. Butler handed Kathleen a copy of the Matrimonial Times.

  “The Matrimonial Times? What is it?”

  “ It may be the answer to your problem. It’s a newspaper that advertises for mail order brides. It's for women who want to get married and don’t mind moving west.”

  Mrs. Butler saw the look on Kathleen’s face. “ I know it may sound, well, a bit odd. But there are many women who do it. Why not take this newspaper with you and have a look at it over the next couple of days? I only thought of it because you don’t have a lot of time or options left, Kathleen.”

  “Thank you Mrs. Butler, I’ll do that. And I appreciate everything you have done for me.”

  After Kathleen left the office, she almost tossed the newspaper into the nearest garbage receptacle. But then she thought better of it – ‘Mrs. Butler is only trying to help. It doesn’t sound like anything I would want to do, but I owe it to her to at least take a look.’

  On the trolley car on the way back to the orphanage from work the next day, Kathleen opened up the Matrimonial Times. Even if she did nothing with it, she found the ads fascinating. She tried to imagine life, as described by the men running ads looking for women to share their lives.

  One ad in particular caught her eye. But she decided that she would read through the entire paper before going back to it. She found one or two others that seemed interesting, but none that intrigued her like that first one had. The more she read it, the calmer she became.

  “My name is Daniel McCann and I live in Prairie Meadow in Kansas. I have a pretty good size spread and a house fit to raise a family in. But I ain’t gonna lie to you. I’m a widower with 2 young kids, a boy and a girl. There was an accident with a gun and their mama died right in front of their eyes and neither one of them has got over it. They need lookin’ after and I need a wife to help do that. I can’t promise to love you, if you do decide to come out here – I still love my wife. But I do promise to take care of you and look after you.”

  That night she tossed and turned unable to sleep, thinking about the man in the ad and his two children. She lay awake wondering if God had had a hand in this. The next day she decided to take a chance and write back to Daniel.

  ***

  Weeks later, as she packed up her belongings and looked around the tiny room that had been home for so many years, she whispered a prayer of thanksgiving. Mrs. Butler was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs when she came down. “We are going to miss you around here Kathleen,” she said with tears in her eyes.

  “I am going to miss you too. How can I ever thank you enough for everything you have done for me over the years, Mrs. Butler.”

  “No thanks are necessary, dea
r. I’m just glad that things have worked out for you. What time does your train leave, Kathleen? Do you have time for a cup of tea before you go?”

  “I’d love that. The train doesn’t leave for several hours.”

  Mrs. Butler smiled and ushered Kathleen into her office. To her surprise and delight, many staff members had gathered to wish her well. The next couple of hours flew by, filled with reminiscing, laughter and a few tears. When Kathleen finally left, she promised to stay in touch with regular letters.

  Chapter 2

  Kathleen made her way to the train station with time to spare. She had been told that the train would be crowded on this leg of her trip, as it would be making stops at several large cities. And that’s how it was the first week of her journey, with new travel mates sharing her compartment every couple of days. The cities gave way to towns and sometimes the train seemed to stop right out in the middle of nowhere.

  The various people that boarded the train looked on Kathleen with interest. She made friends with a woman who was traveling with her two small children. Sara had been back east to visit her parents. They had never seen their grandchildren and it had been a happy visit.

  When Sara got off the train just west of St. Louis, they parted with a promise to write each other. Kathleen saw the children run and leap into their father’s arms before his arms encircled his wife and lifted her off the platform. She wondered if she would ever experience that kind of joy with Daniel and his two children. She thought it was probably unlikely, given the fact that Daniel was still in love with his late wife.

  Finally, after two long weeks on the train, the conductor told her that they would be arriving in Prairie Meadow within the next few hours. Kathleen was relieved that the long journey was finally coming to an end. But at the same time her stomach felt queasy, as the realization hit her that she about to come face to face for the first time, with the man who was going to be her husband.

  She looked down at herself in dismay. The nice dress that she had put on to make a good first impression was dirty and gritty. She was glad she had at least saved her best one to get married in. She did the best she could to brush off her dress and used a clean hanky to wipe the worst of the dirt off of her face. She took off her traveling hat and unpinned her long flowing hair. She then attempted to brush out some of the tangles before re-pinning it. As the train slowed, she pinched her cheeks and bit down gently on her lips to add a bit of color to her face.

  Looking at her reflection in the tiny mirror that she carried in her purse, she sighed. It was the best she could do. She hoped her husband-to-be would understand why she did not look her best.

  Her heart was beating a mile a minute as the train came to a stop in the tiny town of Prairie Meadow, if it could even be called a town. While she waited on the platform, for the trunk containing all of her worldly possessions to be unloaded, she took a good look around. There wasn’t much to see; a general store, a dry goods shop, a livery stable and blacksmith shop, a boarding house, a little café, a combination bank, post office and telegraph office, a saloon, a few houses, a tiny church and several other little places that she couldn’t identify at first glance. That was all there was as far as the eye could see, except for what looked like miles and miles of grass and a few trees.

  There were several people waiting to board the train and a few others waiting for passengers to disembark. What she didn’t see was any man who liked like he might be Daniel. Once the train took on water, it pulled out of the station leaving her standing there all alone. She decided to sit down on her trunk and hope that Daniel hadn’t changed his mind. Finally, after what seemed to be ages, she saw a short, portly man rush out of the livery stable and come in her direction.

  “My apologies ma’am. Are you Kathleen Taylor?”

  “Yes, I am Kathleen. Are you Daniel?” she asked with dismay.

  He did not look at all like she expected, so she was somewhat relieved when the man chuckled and said, “Oh no ma’am. I’m Johnny Proctor. Daniel got word to me that he wouldn’t be able to come to town until tomorrow and he asked me to meet the train instead.”

  Johnny pointed over at the livery stable. “I got tied up over there at the livery stable putting new shoes on a mighty cantankerous old mule of a horse and I couldn’t leave ‘til I was done.”

  “Well, thank you Mr. Proctor. Did Daniel happen to tell you where I was going to stay tonight at all?”

  “Aw please call me Johnny, everybody else does. And yes, Daniel said I was to take you and your stuff over to the boarding house and git ya a room for the night.”

  Johnny took off his hat and scratched his head, “I know there was something else I was supposed to tell ya. Now what was it? Oh yeah, Daniel said to tell ya he’s right sorry he couldn’t be here himself today. He said he’d explain it all to ya tomorrow before ya git hitched.”

  “Is this trunk all ya got with ya?”

  “Yes Johnny, that’s it.”

  “I’ll get Joe to help me carry it across to the boarding house in a minute. Let’s go and get you settled first.”

  Mrs. Gregson ran the boarding house and was expecting Kathleen. She had a nice room all ready for Kathleen.

  “Mr. McCann was in town a few days ago and he arranged to have a room ready for you. Our preacher covers another town down the railroad line and he won’t be back until tomorrow. So one way or the other you would have been staying here tonight anyway,” explained Mrs. Gregson.

  “You must be tired after that long trip, Miss Taylor,” she continued. “Dinner will be served in a few hours but I can make you a bite to eat now if you’re hungry. And I bet you’d like a hot bath to scrub some of that travel grime off and get ready for your big day tomorrow.”

  “Oh yes thank you. I would love to clean up. My hair feels like it’s about ten pounds heavier with all the dirt in it. But I can wait until you serve dinner to have something to eat.”

  “All right, the tub is just here in this room and I’ll have Joe carry hot water up to fill it now that you’re here. Give him about fifteen minutes and then it’s all yours. I will see you at dinnertime.”

  While Kathleen waited for her bath to be ready, she looked out the window at the town. Joe and Johnny were just climbing the stairs of the boarding house with her trunk as promised.

  Even though things hadn’t happened exactly as she’d expected, she had a good feeling about this place. The people she had met so far had seemed friendly and welcoming, which was a relief. Now all she had to hope for was that Daniel was just as nice.

  That night, Kathleen fell into a restless sleep. She couldn’t stop herself from being nervous. After all it wasn’t every day that a girl got married, and she hadn’t even met Daniel yet, which was even more nerve-wracking.

  Kathleen woke up early the next morning. She had slept well despite her anxiety, and felt refreshed. She had just gotten up when there was a gentle tap on her door and she could hear Mrs. Gregson saying, “Good morning, Miss Taylor. Are you up? I have a cup of tea and some breakfast for you.”

  Kathleen hurried to open the door. “Why Mrs. Gregson. How nice of you! I wasn’t expecting room service,” Kathleen said with a wide smile.

  Mrs. Gregson came in and deposited the breakfast tray on the table by the window. “Well, it’s not everyday that I have a beautiful bride staying in my boarding house. If that isn’t a reason to bring up a breakfast tray I don’t know what is,” she said brightly.

  “I hope you slept well, Miss Taylor. You have a big day ahead.”

  Kathleen nodded.

  “Now,” said Mrs. Gregson. “I think we can expect Mr. McCann to be in town about midmorning. So we have a few hours to get you ready.”

  Kathleen felt her eyes well up with tears. She hardly knew Mrs. Gregson and here she was being so nice to her. She realized that Mrs. Gregson reminded her of Mrs. Butler from the orphanage.

  “How can I thank you Mrs. Gregson. I wasn’t at all sure what to expect today.”

  Mrs
. Gregson waved away Kathleen’s words. “No thanks are necessary. Mr. McCann is a good man and he has had a very rough time of things what with the death of his wife. His poor kiddies are suffering so much.”

  She nodded to herself. “People have tried to help out as much as they can, but those children need a mother.”

  She looked over at Kathleen as if to decide how much to say.

  “I’m not sure it’s my place to say this, but you’re going to find out sooner or later and I think you deserve to know before you get married.”

  Noticing the look of alarm on Kathleen’s face, Mrs. Gregson was quick to reassure her, “It’s nothing bad about Mr. McCann, just some background information he probably didn’t mention to you in his letters.”

  “Go on please,” said Kathleen.

  “After his wife died, his childhood sweetheart from back east, Josephine, wrote to Mr. McCann and offered to come help him with the children.”

  Kathleen watched her with wide eyes.

  “Mr. McCann agreed and moved to town temporarily so she could get to know the children and they could get to know her before he married her.”

  Mrs. Gregson wrinkled her nose, “She stayed here at the boarding house and it was obvious to me that she was not going to be able to handle the hard life out here. She was used to the finer things in life and had been sheltered. She didn’t know how to do anything. She’d always had servants.”

  She looked at Kathleen, “But worst of all was that the kids didn’t take to her at all. She did try to get along with them, but they threw tantrums if Mr. McCann tried to leave them with her for even a little while. Nothing was ever said, but after about a month or so, she got right back on that train and Mr. McCann moved back out to his farm.”