Into the Distance: Four Historical Romances

By Doreen Milstead

A Miracle For The Orphan From New York & The Cowboy Furniture Maker In Nevada - An orphan on the run from police, boards a train headed somewhere and then takes refuge in a compartment where an older woman sits quietly.

A Journey Of A Thousand Miles With Her Cowboy - A Southern woman, fallen on hard times with her family right after the Civil War, heads west and to a man she met reading an advertisement in the newspaper.

Marlene Learns to Fly is about a strong-willed woman who decides to become a mail order bride and make her way in the often harsh life on a ranch, but when she meets her husband to be, she knows he is doubtful that life on a ranch will be possible for, and with her.

Letting The Bird Fly is about an abused woman in England who, after becoming widowed and left penniless, decides to become a mail order bride to a rancher in America, but lacking any kind of practical skills, she is doubtful that she can become his true helpmate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Nov 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781365501401

Book preview

Into the Distance: Four Historical Romances

Into the Distance: Four Historical Romances

By

Doreen Milstead

Copyright 2016 Susan Hart

A Miracle For The Orphan From New York & The Cowboy Furniture Maker In Nevada

Synopsis: A Miracle For The Orphan From New York & The Cowboy Furniture Maker In Nevada - An orphan on the run from police, boards a train headed somewhere and then takes refuge in a compartment where an older woman sits quietly. The pastor in charge of the group of mail order brides assigns her a husband and as she travels to their destination, the other woman in her compartment feeds her, brushes her hair and then gives her a pretty dress before they arrive at their destination. What happens after that is a miracle in every sense of the word.

Vanita looked around frantically for an escape route. She noted the large crowd at the train station and headed in that direction hoping to elude her pursuers. She did not want to go to jail for stealing some bread. Life had been dishing her out some tough choices lately and the opportunity to grab a bite to eat had overcome her reluctance to do something wrong.

Hunger wasn’t a new thing for her, but even in the orphanage, there was at least one time per day when it wasn’t so overwhelming. Out here on the streets, there were no guarantees of a meal coming along and she’d finally reached the point where any option seemed better than nothing.

Stealing wasn’t a skill she’d had much practice at and the baker was well versed in the ‘snatch and run’ technique practiced by the street urchins. He’d seen through her ruse even before she’d fallen to the temptation. Fortunately for her, he suffered none of the effects of being hungry and was too slow to catch hold of the young woman. The cop walking that neighborhood, however, wasn’t as flat-footed and Vanita was finding it difficult to make herself disappear.

She hoped that by merging herself with the crowd gathering to board the afternoon train, she’d become just another one that got away. She didn’t realize merging with the crowd would have the effect of changing everything for her. Well, at least she didn’t, until it was too late.

Pastor Williams struggled to maintain his composure in the jostling crowd of women surrounding him. The noise and the smoke from the train rattled his nerves and made it difficult for him to stay on track. He was trying to work his way down the checklist on his clipboard, but people kept bumping him and he’d lose his place and have to start over.

The women were nervous about having to deal with him and kept talking to each other instead of listening to him, causing him to have to call their names several times before getting a response. Some of them wanted to push to the front and find out where they were sitting and others wanted to hang back.

He’d been forced to step into this role at the last minute as Mrs. Hastings had been rushed to the hospital that very morning. She was the main organizer and knew every last detail of this mail order bride business. He knew just enough to be forced to step in and take her place, a knowledge he was regretting more every minute he stood on this platform.

He was trying to take a role call to determine if all of the women had reported as they were instructed. He’d been able to check off most of the names and give them their assigned seats by the time the conductor gave the last warning to board the train, but a couple of names still eluded him. He looked around the platform frantically with his clipboard in hand.

Seeing a young woman standing at the edge of his little group looking somewhat lost and confused, he shouted at her with a name from his list. She looked up at him in a surprised way and then cast a frightened look back over her shoulder. She turned back to him and nodded.

He gave her a seat number and watched her run over and jump on the train. He didn’t notice her lack of baggage or the policeman that suddenly appeared on the platform.

The sudden sound of the train whistle caused him to jump and he hustled the remaining ladies towards the train. It wouldn’t do to have any of them miss the train while standing on the platform. Mrs. Hastings would never forgive him if he messed up all her hard work. The women were all counting on him to get them to their promised husbands. The Lord willing, he was going to complete his mission.

Vanita had never been on a train and had no idea how to find her seat. She didn’t even know why she suddenly had a seat or where she was going. She’d just wanted to get away from the cop that had appeared to be coming in her direction. Bumping into a man wearing a uniform, she mumbled the number the strange man on the platform had shouted at her. The conductor led her to a small sleeping compartment and opened the door.

She stopped at the sight of the elderly woman already sitting inside the tiny room. The woman smiled and bade her welcome, pointing to the empty seat across from her. Vanita hesitantly moved to the seat and made herself as small as possible in the corner of it.

She jumped in surprise as the train gave a sudden lurch and started moving. She started to stand up, but thought better of it as she noted the policeman scanning the windows of the train from the platform. Scrunching herself back down into her corner, she closed her eyes to hold back the tears that threatened to spill over. This wasn’t the right time or place to lose control.

Exhausted both emotionally and physically, Vanita fell asleep and lost all track of time and place. She woke up with a start as the smell of food began wafting through the train. Her stomach would not be denied any longer and the pangs of hunger were gripping her middle.

She opened her eyes slowly and took a careful look around. The woman sitting across from her was eating from a tray sitting on a small platform connected to the wall. She noticed Vanita looking at her and motioned to another tray sitting on the bench next to the young woman.

I took the liberty of ordering our dinner to be served here, the woman said gently. You looked like you needed your rest and I didn’t want you to miss out.

Vanita sat up straight and eyed the tray warily. It had been so long since she’d had a decent meal, she almost couldn’t believe her good fortune. She steeled herself to try and eat as if she wasn’t actually starving. From the first bite, she knew it was going to take every bit of willpower that she had not to eat like a ravenous dog.

The other woman watched her eat quietly. She hadn’t been able to eat all of the items on her tray so she offered the extra fruit and bread to Vanita. The young woman looked at her suspiciously and then took the offerings and proceeded to eat everything on her tray. Clara suspected that if she hadn’t been sitting there, the young woman would have licked the plates of every stray crumb. She wouldn’t have been far wrong in her suspicions.

Vanita set the tray aside and glanced out the window. A look of shock came over her face as she realized they were no longer in the city. The empty fields and forests flashing by the fast moving train appeared devoid of any human habitation at all. She suddenly felt sick at this realization and the combination of the abundant food. She looked about frantically for a solution.

Clara immediately realized her dilemma and jumped up to hustle her off to the lavatory. She moved very quickly for a woman of her age. They reached it just in time and Clara stood outside the door and listened to the after-effects of a very large meal on an empty stomach. It wasn’t a pretty sound.

The young woman emerged after a while with a blotchy red face and swollen eyes. Clara put her arm around the lass and led her back to their compartment.

Along the way, she asked a conductor to bring a bowl of broth, some bread and a pot of tea for them. He looked a bit confused at her request, but hurried off to do her bidding. She wasn’t the type of woman one refused and lived to tell about it.

Vanita curled up in the corner of her seat and tried to still her trembling. She knew she should speak, but she couldn’t think of the right thing to say at this moment. She was bound up with fear and grief at her situation. Her mind was running in circles with nowhere to go.

Clara covered her with a shawl and watched her quietly. She knew there was a story here and she was just the person that needed to hear it. The good Lord always had a reason for the people He put in her path. She could see this was going to be a very good reason and she looked forward to hearing the story behind it.

When the conductor arrived with the things she’d asked for, she placed the tray next to Vanita on the seat. The young woman eyed the food warily as if afraid to try to eat again. Her hunger still gnawed at the edges of her ravaged stomach, so she dared to try a bit of bread dipped in the broth. This time she ate slowly and carefully with sips of tea between bites.

When she was finished, she smiled at Clara gratefully and huddled back down under the shawl. She tried to remember the last time anyone had ever shown her such kindness. As she struggled to think of even one time, her eyes closed and she fell back asleep. She didn’t wake up again until it was morning.

Clara was awake and sitting in the exact same position as when Vanita had fallen asleep last night. She smiled brightly at the young woman when she saw her awaken.

Vanita had the strange feeling that the woman had sat and watched over her all through the night. She wasn’t sure if she was comforted by the idea or unnerved at the thought. She sat up and looked around the tiny room. There was a tray with some scrambled eggs and toast sitting on the seat next to her.

She ventured a look out the window only to note a sunny blue sky and a blur of green trees passing by. She dared not to look any more than that. She knew before she tried to eat that another visit to the lavatory was in order. The older woman seemed to sense her need and got up to accompany her. Vanita was grateful for her presence as she still felt uneasy about this unexpected adventure.

As she splashed some water on her face from the tiny sink, she caught a glimpse of her face in the small mirror. She had a smudge of dirt on one cheek and her hair was a crow’s nest of a mess. She hastily scrubbed at her face with the hem of her dress and ran her fingers through her unruly hair. This would have to do. She didn’t even have a comb to her name.

Coming out from the lavatory, she noted some of the other women looking at her curiously. Ignoring their stares, she hurried back to her seat with Clara following closely behind her. She didn’t breath right until she was back in her seat.

She eyed the food on the tray with a hungry eye. She didn’t understand how or why food was being given to her, but it was clearly a blessing. It wouldn’t do to ignore such a gift from heaven, she thought.

Vanita watched how Clara unlatched the tray from the wall beside her and created a small table for her tray. Copying her moves, Vanita did the same, and the two of them proceeded to eat their breakfast in silence. The young woman watched every move the older woman made with a careful eye and imitated her moves with some skill. This was a habit she’d learned in the orphanage that had helped her to fit in with the others. It was her form of camouflage.

Clara realized what the younger woman was doing and admired her resolve to fit into her change of circumstances. She knew enough about the life in such institutions to recognize the mannerisms before her. She also recognized the standard issue black shoes, high stockings and plain dress. She figured the young woman hadn’t been out of the orphanage for too many days and hadn’t been properly prepared for what lay ahead of her.

When they had finished their breakfast, a young man came into the tiny room to clear away the dishes. He didn’t make eye contact with either of the two woman, but Clara couldn’t help but notice the tension in the younger woman while he was present. She was clearly unused to being around men. Clara wondered how she would react to the news that she was being delivered as a mail order bride. She thought it best to withhold that bit of news for now.

After the young man had left, a sudden knock at the door caused Vanita to nearly jump out of her skin. Clara called out a cheery welcome and the door opened to reveal the strange man from the train platform. Vanita shrank back into her corner like a trapped animal. Clara decided to act as a distraction to give