Glory’s Groom: The Alphabet Mail Order Brides Book 7 Read online

  “Yes. I’m going to stitch him up and then tomorrow we need to get the bark and leaves of an Alder tree.”

  Sondra handed her the whiskey and shook her head. “I’ve never heard of using anything like that. No, I think fresh air is the best thing.”

  “I studied botany and herbs. I healed many at the orphanage. I know what I’m doing. Put Walter’s head in your lap so he can drink some whiskey. Not all of it mind you. I still need to clean the wound.”

  Sondra gave her a look of doubt as she put the bottle to Walter’s lips. He took a deep swig and then sputtered. He took another swig and another.

  “No there will not be any witch medicine used on my Walter. We don’t even know you. It’s possible you led those men here tonight. I can’t say for sure that I trust you. There’s something shifty about you.” Sondra glared at her.

  Sondra’s words hurt and Glory half expected Kent to speak up for her but he remained silent. Even after she gazed at him, he turned his gaze so he wasn’t looking at her.

  Sondra threaded the needle and after elbowing Glory away she started to stitch up Walter.

  Glory wanted to tell her that she needed to wash the wound with the whiskey but she could tell by the set of Sondra’s jaw that she wouldn’t welcome her advice.

  Glory got up and picked up a sleeping Teddy. She held him close. “I’m going home,” she whispered to Kent.

  He looked up at her his brow furrowed. “Now?”

  Her throat felt raw and she didn’t have much time before a sob would follow. She didn’t answer, she just walked out the door. She was halfway to her house when Kent grabbed her elbow.

  “You don’t just take my son like that! Give him to me.” The fury on his face frightened her.

  She handed Kent his son and kept walking to the house. As soon as she had the door closed the tears began to fall. It had all been too much and Sondra wounded her beyond measure. Kent also had a hand in it. Her shoulders slumped as she dragged her feet to the bedroom.

  It pained her to see the blood on her pink dress but it was just a dress. After putting her nightgown on she grabbed some quilts and went into the other bedroom. She made sure the door was closed and made herself a pallet. She lay down, covered herself with one of the quilts and sobbed.

  In what way did was there something shifty about her? What did Sondra mean? Didn’t Sondra just see her pressing on Walter’s wounds with all her might to get the bleeding to stop? Yet she couldn’t be trusted. Equally as wounding or maybe more so, Kent had turned from her. He was ashamed of her. He lied when he called her a good women and pretty. All his kisses were lies too. He was the one who couldn’t be trusted and she was married to the man until death.

  Her heart hurt and her soul ached and her sobs grew louder.. She’d opened her heart to everyone too easily. It was like the most painful slap across the face when he said that. She couldn’t stay yet she couldn’t leave. Somehow she needed to protect her heart from everyone before they tore it out of her.

  She heard Kent come home with his son and she quieted down and waited but Kent never came into the room. She was the stupidest woman alive, hoping he’d come in to talk to her, to hold her, to apologize to her. Her whole body hurt. She was going to find an Alder tree come first light. Kent would have to make breakfast for him and his son.

  Walter was bound to get an infection and the only way she knew to heal him was turning the bark into a poultice. They wouldn’t allow her to use it but she’d feel better knowing she had some on hand just in case.

  It would be awkward going to see Walter with Sondra there. She wouldn’t go. She wished the school was built. She needed to keep busy so she didn’t feel her shattered heart. She was such a fool. He’d kissed her and made her feel things. Swallowing hard she turned over. He’d probably want a wedding night and she wasn’t sure how she could allow him to ever touch her again.

  Chapter Six

  Kent woke up finding Teddy staring and smiling at him. Loving a child was easy. Glory had to be able to see that Sondra had a point, they didn’t really know her. He got up and changed Teddy and got them both dressed. Glory was intelligent she probably figured it was words of fear and she should just forget it.

  He’d promised to show Glory how to make coffee. “Come on Teddy lets go see Mama.” He walked out of the bedroom and Glory wasn’t there. The bedroom door was open but she wasn’t there. “Now where do you think Mama went? To the outhouse?”

  He waited a minute and decided to make the coffee. He could show her another time. Teddy looked hungry to Kent made him some porridge. By the time Teddy was done eating, Glory still hadn’t returned.

  “I guess we need to go check on her. Maybe she went to see how Walter’s doing.”

  Teddy smiled at him and babbled. Kent felt the joy of Teddy’s progress down to his toes. Kent couldn’t wait to see the smile on Glory’s face.

  They went outside and checked the outhouse and then went to Parker’s house. Veronica answered the door and let him in.

  “Everyone but Max and I are asleep. It was a long night for them all,” she told him. She smiled as she touched Teddy’s cheek.

  “Glory isn’t here?”

  Veronica paled. “I wouldn’t expect her to be. She talked about being like a doctor and wanting to put something that could be poison on Walter. I wasn’t here but that’s the story I got.”

  His heart dropped. “Well, take care and I’ll be around if needed.”

  “See you later Kent, you too Teddy.” Veronica waved before she closed the door.

  “I hope your mama didn’t leave the ranch. I know she was crying but women do that. Tell you what; let’s go take a look at the horses while we wait for Mama.”

  Teddy was thrilled by the horses. He petted them, grabbed their manes and tried to bite them. Kent laughed while teaching him the right way. The whole time Kent was worried about Glory. It was too dangerous for her to be alone out there.

  Once again he knocked on Parker’s door. This time Georgie answered it. Kent explained that he needed to look for Glory and Georgie’s face became stricken.

  “Here give me Teddy. Anything could happen to her out there. Tell her not to worry. If I had thought of it I would have found an alder tree too. I heard what went on and my heart goes out to her. She helped and then no one wanted to trust her.” She stared at Kent. “You should have stood up for her. You’re all she has. Go find her and make up with her. Then ask her if she would bring her healing herbs. Walter has an awful fever and his wounds look a bit too red for my liking.”

  “What about the doctor?” Kent asked as he shifted from one foot to the other.

  “He’s busy delivering a baby. The first baby and those always take a long time. You tell her she has a friend in me and the rest feel bad about what happened.”

  Kent’s shoulders slumped. “I will. See you.” He walked down the steps feeling like a young boy who had just been chastised. Georgie was right, he should have told Sondra to stop talking. He should have said no one is as trustworthy as his wife. There was a lack of good doctors in the south and healers were always a welcome sight.

  What type of plant was she looking for? No it wasn’t a plant it was a tree. He ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to remember what she said. Alder tree? He didn’t know one tree from another. He doubted she went into the woods behind their house again. There were more woods on the other side of Joy. Taking a deep breath, he headed for Joy.

  He nodded at the women and children as he went by. He was near the end of the houses when Letty’s daughter, Hannah stopped him.

  “Mr. Sandler!” She ran to him. “My mama said to tell you they went into the woods right where the fence post for the pasture is. My ma has the leaves but not the bark for Mr. Green. Mrs. Sandler looked so sad. She’s not going to leave is she? I want to go to school and get some learnin’.”

  “She’s not going anywhere. Thank you for telling me where they went. I’m sure I can have your mom back to you in a b
it.” He smiled and nodded to the little girl before he walked to the pasture and found the fence post. He’d never noticed the well-worn path into the woods before.

  He walked down the path for a bit before he heard laughter. It felt wonderful to hear Glory’s laugh. He had a lot of apologizing to do. He should have made sure she was fine last night. He really hadn’t known what to say to her so he took the easy way out.

  “Morning ladies. You’re right where Hannah said you’d be.”

  “It’s about time you came to find your wife,” Letty admonished.

  Kent only had eyes for Glory. He swallowed hard at the hurt on her face. Her eyes were a bit puffy and she seemed miserable.

  “Well, now that we got what we need, I’m going home and let you two talk.” Letty picked up her basket and headed down the path.

  Glory studied her basket as if there was a prize in it. He waited but she didn’t look up. He wasn’t any good with women.

  “I’m glad you didn’t get into any trouble this time in the woods.”

  She glanced up with narrowed eyes and lips that formed a grim line.

  “You left really early this morning. I was going to show you how to make coffee, remember?”

  This time she didn’t acknowledge him. He was too awkwaed in these situations.

  “Georgie says hello.”

  She lifted her head and stared at him as though she was waiting for him to say something more. His face heated. What else could he say?

  “Georgie told me to make up with you and then have you bring the plants. She said it really works.” He smiled confident she’d be happy.

  Glory scowled at him and walked right by him, pulling her skirt so it didn’t touch him. She marched down the path.

  “Glory, did you want to wait for me? I could escort you!” She didn’t stop or give any indication she heard him. He needed to ask Max or Parker about this husband thing. Yes, he was missing something and he couldn’t figure out what to do.

  * * *

  Glory hurried home and prepared the poultice for Walter. Kent didn’t mention how Walter was fairing but if Georgie asked her to bring her plants, He probably wasn’t doing as well as he could be. She put it all in a jar and started for the Eastman house. Kent never said a word about her sleeping in the other room. All he cared about was his coffee. She’d have to distance herself from Teddy and it was going to tear her heart. In the long run it would protect her from more heartache.

  Georgie answered the door. “I just put some water on to boil. I do have willow bark to make into a tea for his pain.”

  “Oh, good that will help. I made the poultice. Let me take a look at his wounds.”

  Glory followed Georgie into the spare bedroom. Sondra was sitting in a chair next to the bed and she glared at Glory. Glory didn’t have time for Sondra’s drama.

  She went to the other side of the bed, pulled back the blanket and the sheet that were covering Walter. He was bare-chested and it probably should have bothered her but it wasn’t his chest she wanted to see.

  Slowly and carefully she removed the bandages. Infection was setting in. She put a hand to his forehead and he was hot.

  “Cold water and clean cloths?” Georgie inquired.

  “Yes and fresh bandages to lay over the poultice.” Georgie nodded and left the room.

  Sondra continued to glare at her. “This is your fault. Whatever you did last night made him worse. Even your husband thought so.”

  Glory glanced up and her gaze met Kent’s. He stood leaning against the door frame. He pushed off from the frame and walked to Glory’s side.

  “I never said that, Sondra. In fact I should have told you to have confidence in my wife. She healed many at the orphanage.”

  Sondra shook her head. “Children sniveling with colds are very different than a man with a gunshot wound,”

  Kent took the water and cloths from Georgie. “I’ll get the bandages and the tea.” She hurried from the room.

  Glory took the basin of water from him and set it on the small table next to the bed. She then took the cloths from him. After wetting the cloth she bathed Walter’s face, neck and shoulders.

  “In fact I have dealt with a few gunshot wounds before. A couple orphans who were living on the street took some apples from a store and the owner got them both with buckshot. It wasn’t pretty.”

  “I don’t want to make assumptions here but I bet no one wants me to bath his chest so one of you two will have to do it. Avoid his wound. I’m going to keep cooling his head.”

  “I should do it. You two aren’t married Sondra,” Kent said.

  “He likes me better,” she retorted.

  Glory wet two cloths and handed each of them one. “I don’t care who does it. It’s vital we cool him down.” She was surprised at her urge to slap Sondra. She’d never hit a woman in her life or felt the need. Glory couldn’t even look at them, she continued to concentrate on Walter’s head. She placed the cloth over his forehead, allowing it to cover some of his hair too.

  Georgie came back with the willow bark tea as Walter began to wake up. “What’s going on?” He demanded. He looked as mean as a bear.

  Sondra took his hand. “You were shot last night. I’ve been trying to get you well ever since.”

  Walter’s brow furrowed. He glanced around the room. “I thought Glory was going to patch me up.”

  Sondra leaned forward and whispered. “She must have done something wrong. You have a fever and an infection.”

  Glory pretended she didn’t hear her but her feelings were hurt. “I’ll take that tea, Georgie. Now that he’s awake, It’ll be easy to get him to drink it.”

  Walter stared at Glory and he narrowed his eyes. “You wanted to poison me. I was in and out last night but I remember that part.”

  Her stomach rebelled and she had to swallow hard. She handed the cup back to Georgie and hurried from the room. She didn’t stop until she was back home and in the spare bedroom. She needed Faye, Imogene and Harriet more than ever. They’d sheltered her from anyone who tried to be mean to her. Now she didn’t know how to react. She had no idea what to do.

  She didn’t even know where Teddy was. Madam Wigg would be so disappointed in her. Glory sighed. She couldn’t hide in the bedroom all day. She picked up her pink dress and put it in a metal tub in the kitchen and then filled the tub with cold water. There wasn’t much hope that the blood would come out but she needed to try.

  Next she decided to make bread. She could that and while it was baking she’d figure out how to make clothes for Teddy. She wasn’t doing it for Kent’s sake. It was for Teddy’s sake. She put an apron on and made the dough. It would have to rise and then she’d punch it down and bake it.

  She’d hoped by keeping busy she wouldn’t have to think about everything. She shouldn’t have talked to Letty and she shouldn’t have gone into the woods. There was so much in the South she didn’t understand. She’d just have to be her own friend.

  She decided to write to the orphanage and see about getting school supplies sent down. They didn’t need a building. She could teach them anywhere. Too bad her bag was stolen. She’d had a reading primer in it.

  Finally the bread was ready to go into the oven. After that was taken care of she sorted through all the material and found cloth for Teddy’s frocks and material to make more diapers. Using one of Teddy’s dresses she measured a pattern a bit bigger and a bit shorter. After all he’d be walking soon enough. It was much easier to make baby and toddler clothes than pants and a shirt when he got a bit older.

  She was good at the pattern and pinning together part. It was the sewing itself that gave her fits. She set aside the pieces and cut the cloth for diapers instead. These needed to be hemmed and maybe she could practice making straight seams.

  She took the bread out and let it sit. The whole house smelled of fresh bread. Then she glanced at her pink dress. It didn’t look as though much of Walter’s blood had soaked off. It was strange that neither Kent nor his
son had come home. Had Teddy been fed?

  Guilt filled her momentarily before anger took its place. She wasn’t the one who insulted or ignored others. She was the one who tried to help. A tear trailed down her face and she wiped it away in frustration. She’d act as though she was just a caretaker or servant. She didn’t want to be Kent’s wife and Kent didn’t want her to be Teddy’s mother.

  She’d do what she must until the school started. That was something she could control. She could start with reading to the students, someone was bound to have a book around. She could teach them the names of different plants and tell them which ones could help healing. They could repeat the alphabet after her and learn to count without slates or desks.

  Tomorrow she’d talk to Letty and see when the best time to start would be. It felt better having a plan. She picked another diaper up and began to sew the hem.

  * * *

  Kent was riding a quarter horse named Shade back to the barn. He’d been out checking fences and thinking. Georgie had taken over when Glory ran out on Walter. The poultice was applied and she was bandaged again. Walter even drank the tea. Georgie had high hopes the fever would break.

  He’d felt a hint of coolness from Georgie. She wasn’t happy with him but Sondra and Walter thanked him over and over for helping. It didn’t all sit well with him. He didn’t do anything. Sondra was usually so kind and caring but she’d done an about face after Walter was hurt. Sondra was probably frightened but she’d treated Glory poorly.

  He wasn’t sure what to do about Glory. He had no business being married. He didn’t know a thing about it. His parents were almost never in the same room and they hardly talked to each other. He didn’t want that for himself or Glory but he didn’t know how to fix it.

  When he got to the barn, a cowboy named Crumb offered to take care of Shade. Kent was grateful. Crumb was a good man.

  Kent hurried to Veronica and Max’s house. The door opened before he knocked and Veronica had Teddy all ready to go.