to Denver.
“Hmm.” Mr. Kane rubbed his chin. “I suppose you’re right, it is closer. But you still have to go a ways on the train, and I know for a fact that the service from Julesburg is much faster. The stagecoach from Julesburg to Denver City has won competitions for its speed.”
Mr. Kane cocked his head, and his gaze swept from her waist to her face. “You could get off with me. I can assure your safety. That is, if you’re not meeting someone.”
Anna forced a smile, shifting uncomfortably. “Thank you for your kind offer, Mr. Kane, but I’m meeting my fiancé.” With that, she stood and bade him good day.
Her conscience bothered her dreadfully for having told such a blatant lie.
~*~
The Pacific Railroad took Anna to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and what a desolate place it was. She stood on the platform, and tumbleweeds followed behind the train’s path as it moved out onto the flat horizon. It felt good to finally be outside in the fresh air, no longer tucked away in the train’s cabin car, and that much closer to the new life awaiting her.
After days of travel, and still enthusiastic with her newfound freedom, she went to purchase a ticket bound for Colorado Territory. No passengers were on the platform. Actually, no other passengers had gotten off the train. She recalled the large number of people that had gotten off near Julesburg. Surely, if that was where she should have gone, the man in New York would have told her so.
Her boots echoed off the wooden planks, and she glanced outside the station where three covered wagons and travelers milled about. Good. She wasn’t alone.
“One ticket to Denver City please,” Anna said to the man behind the window. The mere thought that she had made it this far and was just a few days from her final destination made it difficult for her to stand still.
The man behind the window looked up with crossed eyes. She couldn’t tell if he was looking at her or at the wall. “I’m afraid the stagecoach to Denver City has already left.” He gnawed on a toothpick. “Won’t be back for another two weeks.”
“What about a train that will take me back to Julesburg?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure when it’ll be coming through again. Could be a long while. There’s been trouble on the tracks, so we’re running a bit slow at the moment.”
Her heart sank. That meant she would have to stay several nights. “Where’s the nearest boarding house?”
He chuckled as if she’d asked something funny and flipped the toothpick in his mouth with his tongue. “I’m afraid there ain’t no boarding house available, ma’am. But we have a hotel, just across the street here.” He frowned and shook his head. “Mighty expensive though, especially for a whole two weeks’ stay.”
Anna resisted the urge to cringe. She didn’t want to spend more money than she had to.
“I’m surprised you didn’t get off near Julesburg. Their service to Denver City by stagecoach is much faster. Most people coming from the East get off there.”
She bit her lip, remembering the gentleman on the train. Now what would she do?
“I’m sure those settlers,” he said, pointing toward the wagons, “would let you camp with them.”
Camp? She hadn’t brought any provisions to go camping.
“Heck, they might even be headin’ for Denver City. You’d get there a lot faster if you traveled with them.”
Anna studied the travelers. She could save money if she did that. She counted three women and three men who were probably their husbands. She heard the cry of a baby. They were family people. Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to travel with them. Besides, it could prove to be an exciting experience, an adventure.
“Why don’t you go ask?” The man leaned on the counter, closing one eye so she knew without a doubt he was looking at her. He clenched the toothpick between his teeth. “Watch out for them snakes though. They’ll crawl into your boots at night.”
Snakes?
She’d sleep with her shoes on. “Thank you for your help.”
“Much obliged, ma’am.” He winked.
Anna grabbed her carpetbag and went toward the wagons hitched outside the station. She stepped off the wooden platform and onto the dusty road. There were a few buildings, and some homesteaders behind those, but none of them looked inviting. Even the new hotel looked empty and dusty. In fact, everything looked dusty—and hot.
She wiped the sweat from her brow and pulled her hat farther over her head to block the sun. Tumbleweeds rolled at the base of the platform. No trees were in sight, and as far as she could see, there were nothing but hills and plains beyond the buildings. Quite a contrast from the bustling streets of New York City and the busy cobblestone avenues of Amsterdam.
She looked for the most inviting person she could find and chose the woman holding the baby. The slender woman’s dress was dirty, and loose strands of dark hair fell from her bonnet. Anna felt overdressed as she neared the weary traveler.
The woman turned to face her. A bruise glared under her right eye, but she smiled, and Anna forced a grin. She knew what that sort of bruise felt like.
“Just a moment,” the woman said as she handed the baby off to a plump woman behind her.
The plump lady took the child. “You’re simply wonderful with children. It’s a shame you don’t have any of your own.” She walked away.
The slender woman’s smile faded as she brushed the dust off her skirt, almost as if she were brushing off the woman’s comment. Three children whizzed between them.
“I’m Anna.” She smiled, hoping to relieve the tension that rose from the plump woman’s words.
“I’m Beth.” The young woman’s brown eyes and rosy cheeks lit up, and she would have been quite pretty had it not been for the bruise.
The woman’s name turned over in Anna’s mind. It ended with a dreadful “th,” but she ought to be able to pronounce it just fine. She’d finally mastered the language over the last six years, but anytime she became nervous, her tongue fumbled a bit.
“I’m on my way to Denver City, and I was wondering if I may travel with your wagon train, if that’s where you all are headed?”
“Yes, that’s where we’re going.” Beth smiled, but immediately sobered. “I’ll have to ask my husband.”
“I have a job waiting for me there.” Anna hoped Beth’s husband would see that she was responsible, a hard worker, and not someone looking for handouts.
“How nice.” Beth walked over to a covered wagon and arranged some linen inside, focusing on her work. “So, you’re not married then?”
Anna followed and set her carpetbag down to help. “No.” Her uncle never wanted her to marry. He never allowed her to be seen by anyone, much less courted, and kept her shut up inside to wait on his every need.
“Are
