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  The lady with the ugly hat pulled out a small watch from her pocket and then did a quick glance around the station. “It looks like this is the door to our train,” she said, pointing to the door Espé came through moments before. “We still have about two and a half hours before it leaves. Shall we get something to eat?” The women murmured their agreement.

  “Where should we put our luggage?” a woman with red hair asked. Espé thought her voice was a bit odd. She then noticed a dog sitting next to her on a lead.

  She must be deaf, Espé thought. She remembered one of the dancers at home couldn’t hear very well and talked with the same flat tone. That dancer used a dog to signify when the music began.

  The women looked around. “I can watch your bags if you wish,” Espé said. “I’m just finishing my lunch.” She pointed to the carpetbags at the women’s feet. “Just move them closer.”

  “That would be delightful,” one of the women responded, dropping her bag next to Espé and walking to the counter. Each murmured their thanks and left the bags next to Espé’s table.

  When they returned, the small group sat at the table right next to where Espé was sitting. Espé finished her sandwich and was about to return the plate when she saw a sight that chilled her to the bone.

  Walking in her direction was Luis’ brother, Miguel. She forgot that the escolta had a presence in Chicago. She never should have gotten off the train. Papá must have sent a telegram informing them of Espé’s departure and to ask for assistance in locating her. That would be the only reason he would be at the train station.

  She quickly made her way to the counter and stood in front of a tall man that was placing his order. “Excuse me,” she said, using the man to block her view of the man that must be looking for her.

  As she placed her plate on the edge of the counter, she couldn’t help but overhear the conversation at the table next to her.

  Letter… husbands… Colorado… Bent…

  Suddenly it dawned on her. They must be mail ordered brides!

  Espé had heard of such a thing but had never known anyone that actually became one. Women would write letters to men that are looking for wives and once an affection was developed, they would travel west to meet them.

  What a perfect way to hide!

  She could follow the group of ladies to wherever they were going and simply pretend that her husband didn’t show up to meet her. She could stay in town for a few days and then disappear on her trek west.

  She pushed her plate back so it wouldn’t fall, and then approached the table. She looked around. Miguel was nowhere to be seen.

  “Excuse me,” she interrupted. “I couldn’t help but hear that you are brides?”

  One woman blushed. “Well, not yet. But soon.”

  “You write letters?” Espé asked, mimicking the motion of a pen on paper with her hand.

  “Yes, we did,” a blonde-haired woman responded.”

  “Did you send a letter too?” the woman in the large hat asked.

  Espé felt terrible about lying, but she didn’t have a choice. “Si.”

  “Oh, you speak Spanish,” a petite woman with dark hair and dark eyes said.

  Espé nodded. “Si.”

  “Where are you headed?” the blonde woman asked.

  Espé looked confused. “B-b-buh…”

  “Bent?”

  Espé nodded. “Si.”

  One of the women clapped her hands. “Oh, you must travel with us. We can all meet Miss Redburn together. How fortuitous that we found you.”

  “Si,” Espé said again.

  The petite woman with the dark hair furrowed her brow. “You must not speak much English?” she asked.

  “It takes me a moment to understand. I speak slow…”

  “Slowly?” she offered.

  Espé nodded her head. “Si. I mean yes.”

  The women laughed. The lady in the large hat patted the seat next to her. “You must join us,” she said.

  “Let me grab my bag and I’ll return in a few minutes. I’m Espé.”

  “Espé? What a unique name. I’m Violet.” Violet then pointed to the women around the table. “These ladies are Myrakle, Helena, Cina, Alice and Abigail, Bertha, Adeline and Jasmine. I thought one more might be joining us, but Miss Redmond didn’t send me her name.” Violet looked around the table with a smile. “I’m to be her assistant, you know.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Espé forced her lips upwards in a smile. “I’ll be right back,” she said and scurried off to get her carpetbag from the train. She couldn’t recall all of the woman’s names, but it wouldn’t matter. She had no intention of being around long enough to remember any of them.

  She just needed to stay in Bent, Colorado long enough to put the escolta off her trail. Then she would figure out where to go next.

  Espé prayed no one would find her there.

  Espéranza rolled her eyes at the scene unfolding before her. It seemed like a perfect ruse when she decided to tag along with this group of women, but now she wasn’t so sure.

  The train ride was long, the passengers’ perfume was no longer hiding the stench of travel. Espé just wanted a warm meal, a bath and a bed.

  She was terrified that Luis or his brother, was going to find her. She sequestered herself in the private compartment with the rest of the ladies and didn’t move from the car unless it was necessary.

  It wasn’t until they pulled into Bent that Espé finally breathed a sigh of relief. Evading marriage was not an easy task. Nor silent, as the shrieks coming from the women on the platform concurred.

  It appeared everyone was tired from the trip. They shuffled to the platform bags in hand, but there was no one there to greet them. Espé at least expected men lining the platform if they knew their brides were coming.

  There was one man, at least that was very interested in their arrival. And he was the reason Espé rolled her eyes.

  He was sidling up to Myrakle and Espé could hear his voice pitching as he talked to her. If he could get any closer to the deaf woman, Espé thought he would crawl right into that carpetbag the woman held. He was definitely enamored. Espé sighed. This is why she avoided men at all costs.

  That was when she found out that this group of women were not mail-order brides. Instead, they had been corresponding with a woman in town!

  A woman who was supposed to be matching them to their new husbands. If Espé wanted to be matched, she would have stayed in Florida.

  The man moved closer to Myrakle.

  If these women were desperate enough to marry themselves off to a stranger based on someone’s recommendation, then they deserved whatever came their way.

  Violet must have said something to the man because he jumped back from Myrakle and ran to the office to scribble something on a piece of paper. Espé sighed and looked around.

  The platform and station were small. There was a wooden sign nailed to the wall of the ticket office. Bent, Colorado. Population? There were a few numbers with crosses through them. Espé noticed the numbers went up and down. The last number was 1652. Espé wondered why the numbers had been dropping so much lately.

  Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder. “You’re very pretty,” a voice called to her. Espé turned to see a boy that didn’t look a day over thirteen leaning towards her. He held a piece of cake in his hand as he looked at her intently. Espé took a step backwards.

  Helena noticed and put her arm out to stop the boy from coming any closer. “She doesn’t understand you,” she called to the young man.

  “Whatdaya mean?” he asked, stuffing the cake in his mouth. He wiped the frosting off his lips with his sleeve.

  “She doesn’t speak much English,” Helena said giving Espé a wink.

  “Really?” the boy scratched his head. He looked back at Espé. “So, you don’t understand me at all?”

  Espé made herself stand completely still and blinked her eyes a few times. She didn’t want to give anything away.

&nbs
p; “She speaks Spanish,” Cina chimed in.

  “Curtis!” the man called from the office. “Come in here.”

  Curtis looked at Espé once more and started to speak. The man called again.

  Espé took a step towards the young boy and started yelling a string of Spanish that caused him to practically fly into that office.

  “Whatever did you say to him?”

  “I told him that if he ate too many cakes, he would turn into one! Oh! And to wash his face and hands before bed.”

  Helena started to laugh. Espé relaxed for a moment but then worry started to creep in.

  What was she going to do once they found she didn’t have a match?

  Chapter 4

  Espé was laying on the bed reading a book when Helena waltzed through the door. They were sharing the same room.

  “Did you hear there is going to be a dance?” Helena asked her.

  “A dance?” Espé hoped that her droll response didn’t offend Helena, but she had no desire to go to a dance.

  “Yes. That nice young man who makes violins is going to come and play tonight. I think he wants to court Myrakle.” She picked a piece of invisible fluff from her dress. “Anyway, we are going to have a dance downstairs.”

  “Hmmm,” Espé hedged. “I don’t know.”

  “You have to come. All of us will be there and so will be the grooms. They are coming tonight to meet us.”

  Espé groaned. She managed to keep to herself, apart from that instance where Mr. Redburn tried to inspect the women as if they were cattle. Espé had released a string of Spanish that made his ears burn. He left her alone after that. In fact, she had hardly any interaction with him at all.

  Helena looked at her with big brown eyes. “Don’t you want to meet the potential grooms?”

  “I’d rather sit here and read my book, thank you very much.” Espé lifted a copy of her book towards her roommate.

  “What are you reading?” Helena came over and sat on the bed next to her. Helena was an avid reader.

  “It is the story of a runaway boy and a slave who escaped and go rafting on the Miss-miss-is-ippi River.”

  “That is an odd story. Why would you read that?”

  “It’s about freedom.” Espé laid the book aside. “Haven’t you just wanted to go where you want to go and do what you want to do?” She sat up on the bed. “I know I would.”

  “You certainly have some funny ideas, Espé.”

  “Who has some funny ideas?” Alice popped her head in the room.

  “Espé,” Helena explained. She doesn’t want to go to the dance.”

  “Why not? Don’t you dance?” Espé shrugged her shoulders. Alice sat down on the edge of Helena’s bed. “Don’t worry. I’m sure Jasmine can help you. Her parents made her take dance lessons.”

  “It isn’t that.” Espé hesitated. She didn’t want to tell them that she hadn’t hired Miss Viola.

  “I think she is shy about meeting the men tonight,” Helena offered.

  Alice’s mouth formed an o and she nodded. “I understand. But this is why you came out this way, isn’t it?”

  Espé shrugged again. She didn’t have a response. “Is it because you don’t have a dress?”

  “I have a dress,” Espé offered. Helena jumped from the bed and went to the dresser near the window. She pulled open the drawer.

  “It’s empty,” she said. “Didn’t you unpack.”

  Espé shrugged again. “I didn’t know how long I would be staying here.”

  “Staying here? Where else would you stay?”

  “Helena, maybe she means that we don’t know how long we will be here before getting married. I mean, really, it could happen at any time once Mr. Redburn finds who is with whom,” Alice explained. Espé saw her eyes travel to the carpet bag next to the dresser. “Maybe her dress is in there.”

  Helena grabbed the bag and opened it. Before Espé could say no, Helena had pulled out a ball of blue fabric.

  “Oh, my goodness, look at this,” Helena said to Alice. She shook the dress out and held it up against her. “That is silk.” Helena fingered the black trim. “And look at this lace.” She held out the skirt for Alice to take a look at.

  “That is a very fancy dress.”

  “And look at these shoes?” Helena turned them over. “They have nails in the heel.”

  Espé reached over and grabbed the shoes, stuffing them back in the bag. She then took the dress from Helena’s hands and stuffed it on top of the shoes. “I no go to the dance.” Whenever Espé became nervous, her speech patterns faltered a bit.

  “I didn’t mean to pry. It is just a beautiful dress. You should wear it and come down tonight.”

  Espé put her carpet bag next to the dresser. “I think about it. Right now, I read.” She went and laid back on the bed, picking up the book.

  Alice shrugged. “Let’s go get ready, Helena.” Helena pulled a dress out of the wardrobe and followed Alice from the room.

  Espé heard the music floating up to the room. She had to admit she was curious about the dance and maybe even a little about the men that were coming to see her new friends.

  She quickly washed in the basin and dabbed a bit of rosewater behind each ear. She pulled out her carpetbag and opened it to reveal the blue dress inside. She wasn’t sure why she chose to stuff the dress and the shoes in her bag when she left, but they meant too much to her to leave them behind.

  Gently removing the dress, she shook it out. The fabric was creased from travel. Normally Mamá would place a pot of steaming water in a small closet and allow the steam to relax the wrinkles. Unfortunately, Espé didn’t have a pot or a closet. She used her fingers to press as many of the wrinkles out as she could. Perhaps the rest would fall away once she put on the garment.

  She laid the dress on the bed and donned her chemise again. Plaiting her hair into two braids, she twisted them into a design on her head. Thankfully she had hair pins in her reticule. A tortoiseshell comb and two fabric roses completed the look.

  Once she was satisfied with her hair, she lifted the dress over her shoulders and twisted her body until the dress fell down to her ankles. She loved the bright blue silk trimmed with black. It set off the light caramel of her skin and the deep black of her hair. There were several layers of ruffles at the bottom of the skirt and a slit went up her leg, stopping just above her knee.

  This was her favorite dancing costume. She pulled a shawl and fan from her bag. The shawl was intricate black lace with tassel trim. Espé looked in the mirror and realized there wasn’t anyone who could button her up. She would need to do it herself.

  Espé struggled fastening the buttons, able to get all but the middle two. She grabbed the shawl that would normally go around her waist and instead, put it around her shoulders, tying it in front. Those two buttons were no longer a problem.

  She slipped her feet into her dancing shoes, slid her fan strap over her wrist and headed downstairs to where the music was playing.

  Helena saw her first and came running over. “Oh, Espé, that gown is just beautiful.” She touched the flowers in Espé’s hair. “Wherever did you get blue roses?”

  “Thank you. My Mamá made them.” Suddenly a wave a sadness washed over her. She may never see Mamá again. Espé bit her lip and wondered if she made a mistake coming down. She glanced out across the crowd.

  “Are you alright?” Helena asked.

  Espé turned back to her friend. “Si. I’m just taking it all in. Can you help me? I had a bit of a problem with the buttons on my dress,” she confessed.

  “I can help you with that. Let’s go into this room over here.” It took just a moment for Helena to fix Espé’s dress and then they were back to the festivities. She was about halfway across the room when she realized Helena wasn’t behind her. Her friend was standing against the back wall taking everything in. Maybe Helena didn’t like social gatherings?

  Espé loved them, however. Her dancing family socialized every evening after the
performances. There would be singing, eating and even more dancing. Those were some of the happiest times of Espé’s life.

  She saw three men in the corner playing instruments and realized one of them was the man from the train station. She wondered who he was matched with.

  He was very handsome. Myrakle sat in a chair next to the piano holding Dumpling on her lap. Her head bobbed almost as if she was hearing the sound. Ah, perfect match, she thought.

  Espé couldn’t help tapping her toes to the beat. She was very careful not to strike her heels as she didn’t want the nails to damage the wooden floor. They were simply there to enhance the sound of stomping as she danced on stage. There was a large group of men standing against the wall.

  Some were talking to the ladies. A few were dancing, but mostly everyone looked very uncomfortable.

  Espé walked over to a table where sandwiches and some type of drink were displayed. She grabbed a small sandwich and a napkin. Her stomach gave a little growl. Had she really not eaten all day as she had been hiding in her room?

  There was a man standing next to the table. Espé remembered seeing him the night before. She couldn’t recall his name immediately since she hadn’t ventured from her room all day.

  He was older with scraggly graying hair. His cheeks were fuzzy and when he smiled, crooked teeth displayed from behind his lips. She gave him a little smile.

  “You look might pretty, Miss Espé,” he said.

  Espé suddenly remembered his name. “Mr. McGruder? Correct?” Espé asked, taking a bite of her sandwich.

  The man nodded. “But you can call me Beans. Everyone else does.”

  “Beans?” Espé looked at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone with that name before. Did your parents not like you?”

  Beans threw his head back and gave a hearty laugh. “Naw. Been called it for as long as I remember.”

  Suddenly Jasmine jumped up from where she was sitting and started to grab the women’s hands leading them on the dance floor. She came and grabbed Espé’s hand and soon everyone was caught up in the excitement.