Read An Unexpected Annulment (The Colorado Brides Series Book 3) for Free Online Page A

happened to me was nothing compared to the wealth of misery I’d seen here.
     

Chapter Four
     
    My responsibilities had suddenly grown. Not only was I busy preparing the schedule for the new school year, but I now had three very feisty children to manage, and that was a tall order. Nathan and Jerry took the boys to the fields to work most mornings, which left Annie at the house with me. I set her to work gathering eggs from the henhouse, which she loved doing, as there were chicks in the pen. She took her time gathering the eggs, picking up each yellow, fuzzy chick and talking to it. When that chore was completed, I let her sweep the kitchen, which was always dusty from when the boys came in with dirt on their shoes.
    Hannah and I had gone shopping for clothes, finding many second hand items at the mercantile. Some were too big, but Maria and I were able to take the pants in. The boys wore leather shoes, while Annie had a pair of sandals on her feet. They would need winter clothes soon enough, but these would have to do for now.
    Paulina had stopped by one morning with Laura, who was a child that had belonged to a couple she had known on the Oregon Trail. They had passed away from cholera. She had tried to find a relative who would take the girl in, but they had been unsuccessful thus far. Paulina loved that baby. It would devastate her, if someone ever came forward to claim her.
    “You people astonish me,” she said.
    I was in the kitchen with Hannah, while Maria made lunch. I’d been working on making a cloth doll for Annie, and she watched me intently, as I sewed. I’d ask for her help soon enough, when it came time to attach the buttons for the little dress I had made.
    “And why would that be?” Hannah held Letty, as the baby nursed.
    “How can you stand all the noise? Those boys! My goodness.”
    Hannah rolled her eyes. “I think I’m oblivious now, honestly. I’ve gotten used to it.”
    “They are loud, aren’t they?”
    “Do they settle at night?”
    “Mostly,” I said.
    “Ms. Louisa, that’s coming along real nice.” Annie eyed the doll.
    “You think so?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    We had been working on manners lately, and our efforts had begun to pay off. “What shall we do for her hair? Straw or yarn?”
    “Yarn is softer.”
    “It is.”
    “And you’re so good with her, Louisa,” said Paulina.
    “It’s easy.” I glanced at Annie. “You would know.” Laura began to fuss, wanting to be let down to walk. She spied the cat in the corner of the kitchen, her hands flailing excitedly. “You go after her, but she’ll run away.”
    “That’s not the friendliest cat,” said Hannah. “You can call George. He’ll come in and lick you silly.”
    Paulina grinned. “Just look at us. Did you ever think we’d be women of the Wild West? Did you ever think you’d be a homesteader’s wife?”
    “Me?” asked Hannah. “I was supposed to be a preacher’s wife. Now I’m married to a scoundrel of the first order…but I love him.”
    Paulina and her husband, Samuel, had a crop coming in soon as well. Nathan and Jerry had helped them prepare the land in late spring. They’d settled a few miles away on property that had been available. Far too many settlers had been gaining possession of land and then handing it over to rich men who paid their wages, which was not how the homesteading laws were intended to work. But, wherever there was opportunity, corruption seemed to thrive.
    “I’ll not be a homesteader’s wife,” I said. “I’ll not be anyone’s wife.”
    “I’m sure once the right man comes along, you’ll change your mind about that,” said Paulina.
    “I doubt it.” As the doll neared completion, Annie grew more and more excited. Her eyes sparkled with anticipation. When I had attached the last of the hair. I held it up. “It needs some buttons.”
    “For the dress?”
    “Yes. You’re going to learn how to sew the buttons. I’ll show you.”
    “Won’t I poke my finger