Elizabeth Anne: Mail Order Brides Series, #3

By Beverly Kovatch

Elizabeth Anne was to marry Christopher Cain, a proinent Boston businessman, Elizabeth did not quite enthuse Christophers' family. Her insistence on being called Betsy and her bold attitude of saying what she thought about evertything annoyed Christopher's mother. She inisted that Elizabeth needed some grooming before marrying her son.

All Betsy wanted to do was escape this fate tht her mother had made for her, so she decided she would be brave and follow in the footsteps of her best friend, Olivia. She was the one that had convinced Olivia to go and become a mail-order bride. Would that work for her?

She would contact Leanna Walker, the name on the flyer that she had given to Olivia. She wasn't exactly sure she wanted to become a mail-order bride, but it couldn't hurt to look. She sent a message to Leanna and Olivia and got on a stage heading to California, searching for an adventure and hoping to find love along the way. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Beverly Kovatch
• Release date: Aug 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201433642

Beverly Kovatch

This Author is about as unknown as one can become. She sometimes lives in the past, sometimes in the future, sometimes right in the middle of the present. Her mind wanders from what was to what is to what could be. That is the power of the written and spoken word. There are so many opportunities for so many people, and she wonders why no one seems to seek them out. She lives on a farm in what was once a vast farmland area. A few people still believe in farming, but each year, there seem to be fewer and fewer of them. This past year, it appears that the moral background of the world is rapidly disappearing. It takes hard work to be a farmer nowadays. It is a lot easier to sit back and watch others do it. People have taken this place we call home for granted. The pandemic threw us all for a loop, but it also made some realize that unless we fight for what we believe in, our country, the one we all grew up in, could be lost. It took hard work and determination for us to be where we are, and all of it started with a small dream. You see, everything in life begins with a dream. This Author once dreamt she could one day write a book that others might enjoy reading, and here she is. She has written not one book but more than twenty books. Some people dream of owning just a small piece of land, owning their own little business, raising their families in a free land, a place where we are allowed to say what we feel in our hearts, fight for what we believe in, worship at the church of our choice. These past few years have taught this Author that there is power in our words. Once our words are silenced, we have given up one of our most treasured rights. It is my hope, my dream, that the power that you, my readers, have within you will never be silenced. The dreams you hold inside will always be fulfilled, and that you will always and forever … Keep on Dreaming!

Book preview

Chapter One

Elizabeth Anne Johnson came from an affluent family. The Johnsons were from Boston, and try as she could, she never felt like she fit in.

Her grandmother that she fondly called Nina was the most important person in her life.  She was fun and adventurous. Her grandmother was the one who nicknamed her Betsy, which of course, annoyed the elite family members. Elizabeth loved it, though. It gave her a special bond with her grandmother.

Betsy could always confide in her Nina. She was the one who told her you must always follow your heart, Betsy.

Nina once took her on an unexpected excursion. It was one of the times that her grandpa Charles came along. It was a surprise because usually, he was busy with his shipping business and had no time for family outings. This time was different and one she would never forget. This outing was something extraordinary.

There was one thing Betsy was sure of, and that was that her grandpa Charles loved her grandmother. Her grandfather’s elite family found Nina a bit unorthodox. They were not always pleased with the way she presented herself.  She was probably what most would say an outcast of the family. At family functions, it was always Nina who was the life of the party. She and Grandpa Charles loved to dance, and it was beautiful watching them glide across the dance floor.

Grandpa Charles bought a piece of land a few miles past the town. People had made fun of him for buying something so far from the city. They felt it was just a waste of his money, but it wasn’t to him. Grandpa Charles had purchased this land for Nina. He never built anything on it, although he often talked about building a lovely little cottage there. The land consisted of a vast field of wildflowers and lavender. If you went far enough into the field, you found that it led straight to the ocean.

Her grandfather had placed a wooden bench right at the edge of the cliff. A small, slightly hidden staircase led right down to the ocean beach just past the ridge. Many nights he and Nina would travel to their piece of heaven to sit and watch the sunset. Sometimes he would dance with her to the music of the ocean waves.

Betsy had one day that she stored in her memory. It was that day she sat with her legs scrunched to her chest on the bench, watching her grandpa dance and twirl Nina around and around. Their laughter on that day would forever be stored in her memory. Little did she know that several months later, her Nina would be gone forever. Grandpa Charles was never the same after that.

Sadness had replaced the light and sparkle Betsy once saw in his eyes. Somehow she seemed to be the only one to notice. He took care of his business, and that was his life. Betsy’s father had learned of a school in Southern Ohio that several prominent people in town had been recently discussing. They told him and her mother how the woman who ran this particular boarding school for girls was proficient at taking rebellious young girls and turning them into well-rounded young ladies.

Betsy’s mother was sure this was just the right place to send Betsy. She argued with her husband about it. He did not wish to send his daughter so far away from them. Her mother insisted this was the only way to deprogram Elizabeth from all the terrible things his mother had done to her.  Grandpa Charles tried to intervene, but his son’s wife was determined to send Betsy away.

In a way, Betsy was glad to go. Without Nina there to intercede, her life had gotten quite miserable. She would miss Grandpa Charles, but this was an escape for her. She would be on her own at this school, and no one was going to change her into something she was not.

After a fake tearful cry from her mother, a hug from her father and Grandfather, Betsy walked onto the train with hopes of never returning to Boston again. She would somehow escape from this place they were sending her and forge her way to a new life.

Chapter Two

When Betsy arrived at the train station, Miss Fletcher was waiting for her. She was young and had probably been a student of Mrs. Cartwright’s from the looks of her. Miss Fletcher was very proper, and one could tell the elite of the elite had influenced her. She led Betsy through the station to a horse-drawn buggy. This form of travel was made just for the best people, as her mother would say.  Miss Fletcher made sure that she was called Elizabeth and never Betsy. It was just not proper, she told her.

Your proper name is Elizabeth, and you will be called Elizabeth at this school. Betsy is just not allowed. It is far too common, and we shall never use that name. Is that understood? she asked.  

Already Betsy wanted to run in another direction. She liked Miss Fletcher, but she thought there would be at least some kind of comradery in this place. What Betsy found was that there was no leniency allowed at all. The girls that she shared a room with were all very prim and proper. Matilda, Madeline, Margarete, and Suzanna. She wondered why their parents had even sent them. They seemed to be stuck up enough for the elite already. She could tell that she was not going to have any friends at this place.

She was going to have to pretend that she was as stuck up as they were to fit in at all. She could do this, she thought; after all, she loved drama. Nina used to tell her she was the perfect little drama queen, and this would advance an acting career if she so desired to go in that direction. Of course, that would never be an acceptable position for a lady.

Betsy’s mother made sure that she had all the proper clothing needed for this school.  The school, however, decided that uniforms were more efficient. They hoped it would equalize the elite from the riff-raff that they would sometimes have to accept into the school. Betsy figured that she was one of the riff-raff crowd. There were six girls in each dormitory room. Supposedly she was lucky enough to get into the one that had the most stuck-up people.

She was sure that her mother arranged for that to happen. After all, she had the money to buy anything, and Mrs. Cartwright was all for making money. She would make sure that when Betsy returned home, she would be a proper young lady. One that her mother would be so pleased to address as her daughter.

Her mother had already planned out her life. When she returned, hopefully as a proper lady, she would marry Christopher Carpenter the third. They would properly produce two children, one boy and one girl. They would live in a stately manner provided by Christopher, of course.  It was so dull that Betsy wanted to puke every time she thought about what would happen when she returned home.

There just had to be a way to change the outcome that she was facing. Running away might be the only option but run to where? She didn’t know anyone outside of her family and their friends. Maybe Grandpa Charles would help rescue her, but he was just so lost without Nina. It was hard to get through to him. She would write him a letter. It didn’t hurt to try.

She unpacked her clothes and hung them in the closet provided. She would not be able to wear any of these things, but they were there if she needed to run away from this place.

The girls in her room were like a pack of wolves waiting to attack. Betsy decided that she would stay to herself until she could figure out some plan. She decided that she would volunteer to work the kitchen duty. No one else wanted to do menial labor, but it gave her some freedom to breathe. Mollie was the cook. She was a chubby older woman with a laugh that reminded Betsy of Nina.

Every day Betsy would get up early and head to the kitchen. She tried to beat Mollie to be the first one up and in the kitchen, but that never happened. As the weeks went on, Betsy figured out that Mollie’s room was attached to the kitchen. As soon as she would hear the door squeak, she was up and ready.

What makes you stay here? Betsy asked

The older woman laughed. I stay here for people like you. Girls who feel abandoned and alone. Girls who do fit into the mold that Mrs. Cartwright feels one should be.

What makes you think I am like that?

Oh my girl, I have been here a long time, and I see the abandoned that they all miss. Most of them come and ask to work in the kitchen. She laughed as she handed the large stirring spoon to Betsy.

It’s that obvious?

Yes, sweet girl, it is that obvious. Now stir the oatmeal before it clumps up. We can’t be feeding the elite girls lumpy oatmeal.

This woman would never replace Nina in her heart, but she was running a close second. Betsy was thankful that she had someone she could talk to, who would understand just how she was feeling.

When she wasn’t in classes, she was working in the kitchen with Mollie. She was learning more from Mollie than she ever would from Mrs. Cartwright. Betsy knew that cooking and baking were things that she loved to do. Her mother would be appalled because cooking, in her eyes, was considered a servant’s job, but she didn’t care what her mother would think at all.

Mollie was Jewish, and she treasured all the Jewish traditions, songs, and foods. Soon Betsy knew everything it took to be a good Jewish wife, not that she expected to marry someone Jewish. She loved all the traditions, though, and it couldn’t hurt. Be prepared for everything her father used to say to her.

Mollie, my mother would be so angry if she knew that I would give up everything to be just like you.

What? A good Jewish girl? Mollie laughed. She knew precisely what Betsy was saying.

You cannot tell anyone that I have taught you these things. Mrs. Cartwright would fire me for sure. She is always looking for ways to do that.

My mouth is zipped shut, as my Nina used to say. No one will ever hear that from my mouth. I know how to be a proper lady for Mrs. Cartwright. I need a place where I can be myself, and that is here with you. I would never risk losing that.

You, my dear, will make some Jewish man a great wife. Mollie laughed.

Oi vey, from your mouth to God’s ears. Betsy laughed, trying to imitate Mollie.

Please don’t say those words in front of anyone here. They will think I have converted you, and that would not be good. They are not exactly friendly to anyone Jewish. All this must remain between the two of us.

At this point, Mollie, I don’t care what they think. If I wish to become Jewish, that is my decision, not theirs.

Oi vey, what have I done to you?

Then they both laughed as they began working on dinner.

You best get dressed for dinner. You know what a stickler Mrs. Cartwright is that all of her young ladies be present at the table.

Betsy washed her hands and headed out to her room to change into her clean uniform. The girls were waiting for her when she returned to her room. They were already dressed and ready to go to the dinner table.

"So Elizabeth, tell us why you have chosen to work with the servants in