To take her mind off her discomfort, she thought back to the ceremony that had made her Mrs. Obadiah Longtree. Longtree. What an odd name. They were married by proxy a few weeks ago. As she stood in the tiny room overlooking the street of Pennsylvania in the proxy agent’s room, she’d wondered if she’d made the biggest mistake of her life.
But what could she have done? The moneylender had threatened her and also Ruth. They couldn’t allow him to take their virtue. The lowlife! He’d kept adding interest to their unpaid debt like links to a chain. No wonder they were unable to pay their debt off.
“If either of you really wants to pay off your debt, there’s one way you can do it.” He had leered at them, with his beady eyes and thick lips coated with saliva from his constant licking. “You meet me at this place here two days from now and we’ll… discuss it.”
It didn’t take too much to realize what the man implied. That part of Pennsylvania hosted a disreputable crowd of humanity. Gangs, strumpets, and thieves congregated together.
Thankfully, Ruth had taken matters into her own hands. “We may be born of unwed mothers,” Esther remembered her saying, “but we are still deserving of respect. I will not let that man take advantage of you or me.”
It was Ruth who had concocted the whole plan. It was she who had seen the advertisement and she who went to the proxy’s office.
“We can’t do this!” Esther had exclaimed, shaking at the idea of giving herself to a man that she didn’t know.
“If not this, then what will we do?” Ruth had countered in her calm voice.
What else could she have done? Was a marriage to an unknown stranger better than an unscrupulous moneylender? Esther fought down the disappointment as she gazed out the window. For years, she’d promised herself she would marry for love and not for a need or a way out, and here she sat in this stagecoach doing just that.
“Jade, next stop.” The driver called out. “One hour stop, folks.”
Esther took in a deep breath, trying to still the rolling in her stomach. She’d committed herself. There was no turning back.
Your new life as Mrs. Obadiah Longtree begins now.
Reaching over, she nudged her friend. “Ruth, wake up. We’re here.”
Ruth blinked a few times, and then she straightened. Glancing out the window, she said one word. “Oh.”
It was one word, but it seemed to speak for both of them.
Esther clutched her handbag with one hand and Ruth’s hand with the other. They held on tight. Her knuckles whitening from the strain. The butterflies in her stomach churned had nothing to do with the ride this time. On the other side of that door, their husbands waited.
The stagecoach rocked as the driver climbed down from the seat.
The door opened with a creak. More butterflies flew about in her stomach. She glanced over at Ruth. A serene smile graced her face and Ruth squeezed her hand. There was so much said in that one squeeze. With that one tiny grip, a lifetime of friendship was again confirmed. No matter what happened, they’d always have each other. Ruth worked hard to make the best of any situation, and Esther wished the good Lord had given her this gift. He hadn’t and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it.
“Ladies, we’ve arrived. Allow me to assist you down.” The driver placed a stool on the ground from the back of the coach.
“Thank you.” Esther stepped down and looked around the new town they were going to call home.
The windows of one mercantile store across the road stared back at her. Glancing down the dusty road, she saw a post office and a saloon. A boarding house was across from the saloon. She had known it would be a lonely town but there really was nothing here. Pennsylvania had towering buildings, theaters, and many things to do, even if you didn’t have much money. They may have made a mistake coming here. No fancy boardwalks…nothing refined in sight. She coughed as the dust stirred. Esther chewed on her bottom lip.
How far was their home from the center of town? Would they have neighbors?
Ruth’s voice shook as she turned to Esther, her smile somewhat shaky. “Things will be fine, Esther. We’ve lived in worse conditions before.”
She wasn’t wrong. The Magdalene home had not been easy to live in at times. “I know. It’s hard to even imagine we won’t wake up in the same bed as we have had for the past eighteen years.” The many nights of staying up later than was allowed, whispering under the covers. Planning out their lives together. How they would not end up as their mothers did. Picking out names for their children and how they would be the best of friends as well. Time to put all the innocent and childish things aside and face life and the hand they’d been dealt.
Behind them, sat a jail. Bars on the single window. Only a single cell there? Did they even have a sheriff in town?
Mr. and Mrs. Smith walked over to the girls. The other man had already gone, dipping into the saloon. She hadn’t wanted to say a bad word about him, but he’d smelled strongly of whiskey. She wondered if he had a family here or was on his way to another place. Esther plastered on a smile as the couple stopped in front of them.
“Is this your first time in town?”
They had not spoken to them except to say hello as they boarded a few stops back. Why now? The question pricked the back of her mind. Esther
