The stage slowed, and through the small windows, Kayla could see that they were approaching a town. The driver had said it was called Hangman’s Bend.
Who would name a town something like that? she wondered.
Across from her, Abigail was shaking her head. “I can’t do it. I can’t marry him,” she said. “I’m getting off here and taking the next stage headed back east.”
Kayla frowned. “But what about Cord? Isn’t he going to be expecting you?”
The other girl nodded miserably. “But if I went all the way to Copper Creek, I’d have to tell him face to face, and I can’t do that.” She looked at Kayla
pleadingly. “What am I going to do?”
Kayla said nothing for a moment. She didn’t know anything about being a
mail-order bride, and since she’d run away from everything she knew to avoid her own wedding, she didn’t think she was the right person to be asking for advice. “Well, since you agreed to marry him by way of a letter, then I
suppose you can tell him that you changed your mind the same way.”
Abigail seemed to be considering her suggestion, but after a moment, she
shook her head. “But that seems so impersonal.” She thought a moment, and
then looked at Kayla, a smile brightening her face. “Perhaps you could tell him for me.”
Kayla blinked in astonishment. “Me?”
Nodding, Abigail leaned forward in her seat excitedly. “Copper Creek is the next stop, so you’ll be going through there anyway, and I know it would sound so much better coming from you than from some letter.”
“Abigail...”
“Oh, please, Kayla,” Abigail begged. “Please say you’ll do it. You have to pass through Copper Creek anyway, so it’s not even out of your way. It would just take a minute or two of your time. If Cord is as nice as he seems, then I don’t want to hurt him. This way I’ll feel better about doing such a horrible thing. Please, Kayla.” She reached into her reticule and took out some
money, which she held out to Kayla. “For your trouble.”
Kayla’s gaze shifted to the money that Abigail was still holding out to her. She was down to her last few coins, and the five dollars that the other girl was offering her was a lot of money. As uncomfortable as she was with the idea of going up to some stranger and telling him that his mail-order bride had
changed her mind about marrying him, the money was too good to turn down.
It seemed like an easy way to make five dollars.
Reaching out to take the money from the other girl, she nodded. “I’l tell him.”
Smiling, Abigail sighed with relief. “You don’t know how much this means to me. Thank you!”
Kayla put the money into her own reticule. “How will I know him?” she asked Abigail.
“He described himself as tall, with dark brown hair and brown eyes,” the other girl offered.
Kayla frowned. “That could describe half the men in the territory.”
The other girl shrugged. “Sorry. He knows I was coming in on this stage,
though, so he’ll probably be looking for me.”
Again, that wasn’t much to go on, but Kayla supposed it would have to do.
The stage came to a halt just then, and Abigail’s gaze went to the window.
She looked out at the small town, but said nothing.
Kayla regarded her for a moment. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to
Copper Creek anyway and meet Cord, just to see what he’s like?” she asked.
“You could always say that you want to get to know him a little better before you marry him.”
Abigail seemed to genuinely consider her words, and for a moment, Kayla
thought the other girl would actual y agree, but then she shook her head. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m going home.” She looked at Kayla. “Thank you.”
The driver opened the door then, putting a halt to any further conversation, and Abigail stepped out of the stagecoach. They stopped in Hangman’s Bend
just long enough for Kayla to stretch her legs and to pick up their new
passengers – two elderly sisters – before going on their way again.
It was several hours to Copper Creek, but the driver assured them that they would be there before sundown. The two women, though pleasant, ignored
Kayla for the most part, which suited her fine. She tried to concentrate on her newest drawing of a lady’s day dress, but all she could seem to think about was what she was going to say to Cord Holderness. She probably should get
in the part about the inconvenience to her and imply that some type of
payment would be nice before she told him that his fiancé wasn’t going to be coming. However, she couldn’t figure out how to even start the conversation.
The man was expecting his mail-order bride to step off the stage, not some stranger there to tell him that the girl had changed her mind.
As the driver had promised, they arrived in Copper Creek well before sunset that evening. Like so many of the other towns where the stage had stopped, Copper Creek was small, with one main road running through the center of it.
Of course, there was the requisite saloon, general store, telegraph office and sheriff, but more interested in the people than the town, Kayla took little notice of more than that as she stood in front of the stagecoach office.
Kayla noticed several dark-haired men, regarding her with interest, but none of them came over to her immediately. One of the men, however, was looking at her with more interest than the others, and after a moment he approached her.
