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The letter that sat on Annie’s bed was much thicker than anything she had ever received before. She didn’t often receive mail, and rarely on such fine paper. The envelope was creamy, and the parchment like paper was soft and silky under her fingertips. She opened it carefully, keen not to damage even the tiniest bit of such elegant stationery. She pulled out quite a short letter and a train ticket to Great Falls, Montana. She picked it up and looked it over. She was sure it must be some kind of prank, or mistake. She only knew one person in Montana, and Myra’s handwriting was altogether neater and prettier. Then she remembered, she had answered that ridiculous advertisement. It had been weeks, and it truly had slipped her mind as she had been so very busy.
He had responded, and had sent a ticket for her to use to join him. If it weren’t so preposterous she could have jumped for joy. Who sent a ticket to a woman he had barely corresponded with? She should be ashamed of herself for presuming it meant he intended marriage immediately too – for her heart had definitely leapt with excitement at the prospect – because a one way ticket could only mean one thing, surely?
Dear Miss Cahill,
Thank you for your response to my advertisement. I am in good health I am gratified to let you know. Your hasty and apparently uncharacteristic missive pleased me and left me with many questions I simply must have answered. But, I must first do you the courtesy of enquiring after your wellbeing and pray that this finds you in the very best of health.
Please forgive my presumption for including a ticket at this ridiculously early stage of our correspondence, but I understand you are acquainted with the wife of one of my closest friends, Carlton Green. Dear Myra has offered to have you come for a short visit, so that we may see if we might suit. I do hope you will not mind my having spoken to them before I asked you – but when my sister Penelope put two and two together from the information in your letter I couldn’t contain my curiosity that there may be somebody acquainted to you living just across the valley!
Please, if it is possible for you to do such a thing, I ask you humbly to join us here in Sun River for a short visit. It is a truly wonderful corner of the world. There are craggy, snow-capped mountains surrounding us and the valley is rich and fertile. Should you wish to, I would love to be able to show you the beautiful features of my home – especially the waterfalls that give the nearby town of Great Falls its name – there are five, and all spectacular in their own way. Sun River is a tiny hamlet, with only a few basic shops and a Saloon, but it is growing fast and looks likely to blossom in time. There is a good community, and the local minister comes to visit us every Sunday for services if you wished to attend.
There are three of us that farm here. Carlton grows crops; my sister Penelope’s fiancé, Callum Walters, breeds fine horses and I raise cattle. So, we ride on sturdy mounts, eat well-grown grains and vegetables and have plenty of good quality beef – reasons to visit a place if ever there were any I hope. But the true blessings of this place are the people who live here and work here. It is an industrious community, and people have little free time – but they care greatly about each other and are always willing to lend a hand if they can. I hope that you will like it, at least as much as Mrs Green seems to be doing. She is settling in and making friends well, I am sure you will be glad to know.
Now, I believe you wanted to know a little bit about me. I am a bit of a lone wolf by nature. I enjoy ranching because it means I get to spend so much time alone, in the wild. I grew up in New York, always felt it too claustrophobic. There seemed to be so few opportunities. I was expected to become a ship builder like my Father, yet I could not take to that life. I became a sailor for a short time, travelled the world but never saw more than the ports of anyplace I travelled too. Soon I felt just as stifled being aboard a tiny boat as I had trapped in the city.
So, I came home and found that in my absence my Father had sadly passed away. Mama and Penelope were living on the tiny amounts I managed to send home. Something had to change, and so when the newspapers started talking about land, for free if you could work it and make it pay I tried to convince them that this was our chance. Penelope was all for it, but Mama didn’t want to leave her home and friends. I could understand that, and so I tried to find work in the city as a laborer. There is always work in the docks, and so I spent my days as a stevedore, my nights I am ashamed to say were spent in bars. I tried to drink away my unhappiness.
Eventually I could take it no more, and I said that I was coming here, to Montana, whether my family would accompany me or not. I truly believe that I might not be still here had I not done so. Penelope would have followed me anywhere, but Mama did not wish to leave still. However, my Aunt Gwen was glad to take her in as my Uncle Harold had passed away and she too was lonely. They are both now thriving. They do all manner of charity work around the tenements near the docks. So many people have so very little there and disease is rife. They do good work and are content.
I have not been back to New York in over seven years, but I should like to see Mama. Penelope hopes she will come to Montana for her wedding, but I am not so sure she would be up to the journey. Even with the convenience of the station at Great Falls the journey is long and can be very draining (that possibly isn’t what you long to hear as I try to convince you to come!) I should love to have the time to undertake the journey to see her – but cattle need care at all times. This is why I have included the ticket for you. Much as I would like to be able to meet you in Boston it simply isn’t possible for me to do so.
I do enjoy reading, though I rarely get time to finish an entire novel, so I enjoy the short stories they sometimes publish in the newspapers, and poetry. I am writing this having just seen a rather splendid play in the theatre at Great Falls, and I quite like music – though I have never been much for opera. But I am happiest when I am out on horseback, riding across this majestic land, enjoying the sun on my skin and wind in my hair.
Your letter, though short gave me so many questions I long to ask of you. I want to know if you have ever been anywhere other than Boston; have you any family; what truly makes your heart beat faster and makes you feel alive are just a few of the many things I long to know about you. You gave so little away – and I have to say for an inquisitive soul like myself that was too much to resist.
I do not want a wife to just take care of house and hearth, though my love of the land and being free may indeed sound that way. I long for a wife who will be a true helpmeet, a partner and , if I may be so bold, a lover. This is why I believe it so important that we meet, and soon to find out if such things could ever be possible for us and so I can begin to unravel the enigma that you pose my dear!
I look forward to your response, and pray that I shall be able to meet you at the station should you accept my invitation to Montana.
Yours Hopefully
Mackenzie Stott
Annie sighed and clasped the letter to her breast. He made it all sound so wonderfully easy. But though he was able to comprehend that a trip to Boston to visit with her would be impossible given his commitments in Montana, he did not seem to appreciate that should she request the time needed for such a stay that she would most surely lose her position here. It was a huge gamble to take, one she was not sure she was quite ready to take on such a short correspondence.
His letter had amused her, and his outpourings had made her realize what a passionate and exciting man he must be, and also so unlike his advertisement in truth. He would be more than disappointed when he met her she was sure; she was such a mouse after all. There was little interesting about her. She had never been outside of a three block radius, let alone travelled the high seas and traipsed across the country in search of adventure as he had. Reluctantly she put the letter down and accepted that the simple and straightforward man she had so longed for did not exist – and that she would have to write to him later to end their correspondence. It was not fair to him, or to herself to continue to live in a fantasy world. She could not lie to him, make out that she was more than she truly was. She would not set herself up for such potential heartache.
The next days passed in their usual drudgery, yet the sunshine seemed to beckon to her, coaxing her out to play and explore. Each day she tried to find the time to go for a solitary walk, to feel the wind and the warmth on her skin the way Mackenzie had written of it. She had never stopped to notice such things before, had never taken the time to really appreciate what was around her every day. Now it seemed his words echoed in her head, and she felt more, saw more, and heard more than she ever had until now. The birds in the trees, the chatter and giggle of children playing in the park, and the pleasure of lifting her face up towards the sun. It felt wonderful, as if there was an entire world that she didn’t even know about, and the more she did it the more she knew she had to do so again and again.
She still hadn’t replied to him, and knew that it might be that her letter may not now reach him until after the date her train should be arriving. She wasn’t sure what had stayed her hand. She had been so certain that she could not take such an indulgent risk, yet here she was feeling nervous and agitated. She wasn’t unhappy, not exactly, just discontented. It was as if she had been walking round with scales over her eyes obscuring her view, and that Mackenzie’s words had sloughed them away, letting her see the world clearly for the very first time. It was interesting, and vast, and she found herself longing to see something more than the inside of another family’s home, though that little voice in the back of her head wouldn’t stop telling her that she didn’t deserve such pleasure, such joy, such hope.
“Annie, the new governess will be arriving tomorrow. I trust you will ensure her room is aired and cleaned meticulously. I do not want her to get the wrong impression of us,” Mrs Hepworth said haughtily from the end of the corridor as Annie was just taking off her coat and boots. She felt her little moment of bliss slip away from her as the demands of reality took over once more. “I shan’t ask where you have been when you should have been here working. I have been calling for you for a quarter of an hour, and that simply isn’t good enough. Really, I don’t know what has gotten into you in the past few days.”
Annie knew better than to respond, to argue or even to try and explain anything. Mrs Hepworth didn’t care about anything other than putting on a show to the rest of the world. The pretentiousness of the entire house and the extravagant parties they threw just made it more obvious to anyone who had ever been around those from the genuine upper classes. Annie’s first position had been in the Boston home of an English Earl. The house had been filled with old family treasures, most ugly but all worth more than the entire contents of the Hepworth house. He hadn’t cared one jot what anyone thought of him, or his home. He hadn’t needed to. His title had bought him access to every drawing room and ballroom in the city without any effort. She missed working in such a place, but she couldn’t bear to think about why she had been forced to leave.
Mrs Hepworth was still standing in the service corridor, looking down her long nose disdainfully at her. Annie suddenly felt the mischievous and adventurous spirit that seemed to have overtaken her in recent days begin to exert itself. Unable, and even unusually unwilling, to keep it under control she decided to stand up for herself, just this once. “Ma’am, all of my chores were completed and so I took a walk. The park is quite lovely with all the flowers coming into bloom.” Mrs Hepworth sniffed and the furrows between her eyebrows deepened as she frowned down at Annie.
“Your chores are complete only when nobody in this house has no further need of you. It is not for you to decide when you may take time away from your duties.” Annie looked at her incredulously. She knew her place, did not need to be told. She had never so much as considered breaking a single rule in the five years she had been in this household. Yet, she could not remember a single time when this woman had ever complimented her on a job well done. The strong and determined young woman she had spent so long trying to damp down and keep under wraps decided to take control. Annie was going to do something for herself, something that would make her happy. Suddenly she was certain that the consequences were more than worth it.
“Ma’am, I am glad you have sought me out as I have needed to speak with you,” she said hurriedly as Mrs Hepworth made to move away, clearly she believed that there was nothing further that needed to be addressed. But for once Annie was not going to bite her tongue, was not going to be so careful that she actually ran away from life.
“Annie, I have better things to do,” her employer said impatiently turning on her heel. It clearly wasn’t the best time to be broaching this, but for the first time in her life Annie felt reckless. It didn’t matter what happened. She knew Myra would not let her be homeless, would help her to find a position either back here in Boston, or in Montana if she needed one, should things with Mackenzie not work out. She was still young enough to have a life of her own. She was not going to stay and take any more from this cold and unfeeling woman.
“I wanted to let you know I need to take a leave of absence. I will need to be away for at least two months.”
“Is your Mother sick?”
“No. My Mother died three years ago. You attended her funeral.”
“Then what possible reason could you have to need such a period of time?” Mrs Hepworth said, undaunted by Annie’s words. “I cannot spare you for even a day right now. The new governess is coming and will need your assistance in settling in and we have Carolynn’s coming out ball to arrange after all. No, you simply cannot take the time right now.”
“Then I shall have to offer you my notice.”
“Don’t be so ridiculous girl. What would possess you to be so foolhardy?”
“I am going to meet the man I hope to marry, not that it is any of your business. I have a life separate from my work Ma’am, and if you will not release me from my contract and offer me a character, then I shall go without one and have to take my chances.” Mrs Hepworth’s face told Annie that for once, she had managed to finally penetrate this woman’s cold façade, and had shaken her to the core.
“But Caro’s ball? Mr Hepworth will be furious!”
“And I am afraid that shall be your problem to deal with and not mine Ma’am. I shall be catching a train on Monday, so if you could possibly ensure that my wages are ready at the end of the week?”
“Your impertinence is noted, and there shall be no character, you little slut. How dare you do this to me? I shall not ensure your wages are ready, you have given me no notice and will leave me in a position that is simply untenable.” Mrs Hepworth’s handsome face was screwed up with venomous anger, but rather than feeling cowed, Annie actually felt vindicated.
“Ma’am. I have been doing my own work and that of the governess for two months, I am sure that the new governess can do the same,” she said cheekily. “And, I shall go and see the gentleman that so ably assisted Mr Green with his little matter if you insist on not paying me. I am sure that a judge would perceive your not paying me what I am owed as being most inappropriate.” Mrs Hepworth didn’t seem to know what to say to that, she made an odd noise, something between a harrumph and a snort, and Annie had to hold back her giggles. “Oh, I was going to suggest a couple of young women who may have been available to assist you in my absence had you agreed to it, but I am inclined now to just let you find your own new maid. I wouldn’t recommend working here to a single soul now.”
Before she could lose her nerve Annie ran upstairs to her room. She had never been so rude, had never stood up for herself and her own wants and it felt peculiar. She felt equal parts of elation, fear, excitement and guilt. But she had paved the way for a new life. She could only hope that Mackenzie would not find her too dull and boring when he met her and realized this truly was the most dangerous and undoubtedly the most foolish risk she had ever taken.
