Chapter 5

 

 

B lythe felt a weight lift as she raised her gaze and caught sight of Eli Morgan and his two companions entering the front of the passenger coach. She watched as the other two men—one of them carrying two long holders that looked like gun cases along with his carpetbag, and the other carrying a single long gun case and a large wooden box with a handle—both slid into seats across the aisle and toward the front. Mr. Morgan, also carrying a pair of gun cases, turned as if to sit in the bench behind them.

Mr. Morgan glanced up and caught her gaze. He stopped and stared.

Feeling her heart race, Blythe immediately dropped her gaze to her lap. How rude of me to gawk at other passengers. She felt heat rise on her neck and knew the complexion that went with her auburn hair betrayed her blush. Why she felt happy and relieved to see him, she did not understand, for everything she had been taught warned her against entangling herself with unknown men. In this case, there were three of them. Yet, when she met Mr. Morgan, he had not struck her as sinister or up to no good. After dealing with Wendell, Jr., she had plenty of experience with that sort of man. It might prove to be a mistake, but she felt comfortable with him. She heard footsteps approach her bench and hoped it was him. They stopped next to her.

“Mrs. Greenly, we meet again. I’m pleased you decided to continue to Rawlins.” Mr. Morgan’s voice sounded above her head. “Do you mind if I sit across the aisle from you?”

“Not at all, Mr. Morgan.” Blythe raised her face and smiled at the man. “It’s a pleasure to see you again.” My, he is tall. With him standing before her while she was seated instead of at her side, she noticed he was slender and his shoulders, although well-formed beneath his suit jacket, were not overly broad. However, she guessed he must be at least six feet tall. She clutched the fingers of both hands in her lap as she blinked and turned her gaze from him. Was I behaving too forward?

As she listened to the sounds of Mr. Morgan stowing his belongings in the rack across the aisle, Blythe glanced at her carpetbag she left sitting on the bench between her and the window. She did so to discourage anyone from sitting next to her. She might have been comfortable if Mr. Morgan asked. A small part of her knew she would welcome it. However, his presence across the aisle was more appropriate.

Blythe raised her gaze upward as the clatter of more footsteps reached her ears. Mr. Morgan’s two companions now stood in the aisle in front of her seat.

“So, Eli, this is how it is? You prefer the company of this lovely lady to us, do you?” The man of medium height and build with golden brown hair smiled. “No offense, miss. We saw you earlier with our friend, but he failed to make introductions. I’m Jason Sewell, a professor and compatriot with Mr. Morgan at the University of Iowa.” He tipped his black derby in greeting. “Behind me is Dr. Randall Poechet, also an instructor.”

“Pleased to meet you, gentlemen.” Blythe smiled at the pair. At least they have their stories straight. The professor struck her as being the oldest of the trio—probably in his mid-thirties. Dr. Poechet seemed a few years older than Mr. Morgan, whom she thought might be in his late twenties. She felt her body relax as she guessed they were exactly whom they claimed they to be.

“My pleasure, miss. I prefer to go by Rand instead of Randall.” Rand, who wore a slouch hat over his brunet hair, tipped his hat. His dark eyes reflected the light as he smiled and nodded Blythe’s way.

“I suppose you gentlemen intend to force me to acknowledge you.” Eli offered a mock sigh of resignation before he softly chuckled. “Gentlemen…and I use the term loosely…may I please introduce to you Mrs. Greenly, late of Chicago? She is traveling to Rawlins, same as we are. Since circumstances required she travel alone, I offered her our assistance, should she need it.”

Blythe smiled and nodded to each man. She noted that they addressed her as a miss, not a missus. It increased her respect for—and her confidence in—Eli Morgan that he had not gossiped about her situation to his friends.

“Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Greenly. Since we are all to travel together, it seems, we will do you the favor of sitting back here to see our friend behaves.” Rand nudged the professor. “It’s your turn to sit next to the window, Jason.”

“Are you certain the telescopes will travel well in these luggage racks?” Jason Sewell stood his ground as he eyed the two long, slender cases Eli put on the rack above his seat. “I’d hate to travel all the way to Rawlins only to discover a broken lens.”

“Mine’s in a wooden case inside the leather carrying case.” Eli shrugged. “I believe it will be safe enough.”

“Stop fretting like an old man, Jas.” Rand poked a finger in his friend’s back. “Your telescope is well protected like Eli’s is and will travel just as safely as the rifles will.”

“Rifles?” Blythe’s wide-eyed gaze shifted between the three men. “Do you expect trouble, then?”

“No, no.” Eli sat and shook his head. “We plan to stay in Wyoming Territory for several weeks after the eclipse is over in order to do some hunting and exploring.”

“That is when my telescope, which fits in my trunk, will come in handy.” Rand Poechet pressed splayed fingers on his chest and smugly grinned.

“Oh. That makes sense then.”

“I apologize if I frightened you. I don’t expect trouble.”

“Apology accepted, Mr. Morgan.” Blythe met his gaze and smiled. The more she thought about it, she enjoyed having him showing concern for her. Considering how her life had gone the past several years, it was different from her recent experiences. And, for all she knew, these men were married which meant, she needed to be careful around them. One way to find out. “It sounds like you gentlemen have planned an extensive time away from home. Your wives must be very tolerant and understanding to agree to your being gone for so long.” She watched as the three looked at each other.

“I’m afraid you’re looking at a group of three bachelors, Mrs. Greenly.” Rand waved his hand, referring to the trio. “Well, Jason, here, is a widower, but he’s been alone for several years now.” He motioned his thumb toward the man next to him. “Eli and I have never been married, not for the lack of women students at the university trying to catch our attention.” He rolled his eyes. “We have no wives at home to fret over whether or not we pack our weapons and take off for the great wilds of the frontier.”

“Please don’t pay any attention to him, Mrs. Greenly.” Eli, wearing a smile, turned to Blythe. “We were told the wilderness regions are crawling with rattlesnakes. Because of that, we’ll take our rifles when we scout for the best place to set up our telescopes and view the eclipse. Otherwise, we don’t expect trouble. As for town, I expect it to be safe. Rawlins is the county seat, and there’s a sheriff’s office there.”

“Is he bothering you with all this talk of rattlesnakes, Mrs. Greenly? If so, we’ll kick him up into the seat in front of us.” Rand turned sideways on his bench. The mirth in his gaze betrayed his serious expression.

“That’s enough, Rand. Sit straight in your seat.” Eli leaned forward and, holding his pointer finger toward the floor, made a twirling motion with it. “I doubt she wishes to be subjected to your antics. I assured Mrs. Greenly, if she continued her journey on the same train with us, I’d look out for her, figuring the two of you would back me up. Don’t make my regret my offer.”

“Antics, huh?” Rand pinched the bridge of his nose and straightened in his seat. He leaned toward Jason and spoke in a stage whisper. “You catch how it is, old man? He’s going to look out for her, and we’re the back-up.”

“Settle down, Rand. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t get much sleep last night.” The other man, using his carpetbag as a pillow, leaned against the window frame. “The heat and dust will make it tough enough. I just hope I don’t get hit in the face by a hot cinder.” He wriggled on the bench in an attempt to get comfortable. “We should have paid the extra for seats in a Pullman car. Going home, I think I’ll upgrade.”

“Believe me, I understand, and I agree.” Rand sighed as he slunk lower on the bench. “I’m all for stopping in Cheyenne and renting a hotel room so I can sleep in a bed tonight. We can catch the train that leaves the next day.”

“No, we can’t.” Eli leaned forward and, crossing his arms, rested them on the back of the bench. “If we do that, we’ll arrive in Rawlins the same day as the Draper Expedition. For all I know, the engine pulling their special coach is the same one pulling the scheduled passenger coaches. If we don’t want trouble getting the hotel rooms we reserved, we need to be in our rooms least one day before.”

“I hate it when you make sense, Eli.” Rand groaned as he yawned. He quickly covered his mouth.

“Besides, I promised Mrs. Greenly…” Eli hesitated and cleared his throat. “I offered to send a telegram to the hotel to suggest that, if they need extra employees to help with the influx of customers during the time of the eclipse, she was experienced and available. I wish to do that at our next long stop when the train takes on more water and coal. I believe she is traveling straight through.” He glanced once more at Blythe.

“I am.” Blythe responded with a nod.

Wordlessly, Jason slowly lifted his head from his carpetbag pillow and twisted in his seat to gaze first at Blythe, then at Eli. He raised his eyebrows as he returned to his nap.

“Humph. Good of you, Eli.” Rand pulled his slouch hat over his eyes and folded his arms. “I think I’ll try to get a nap in, too. Poke my shoulder if I start to snore.”

“Thank you, Mr. Morgan. It’s not necessary, but I do appreciate it.” After Blythe softly spoke, she suppressed a smile as she kept her gaze downward. Being around these three friends—men who were friends—was a new experience for her. And to have a man make mention of snoring in her hearing startled her. She knew people snored. Although she heard men were most noted for the tendency, there had been many times when Edith Stapleton took an afternoon nap. Her snoring threatened to vibrate her bedroom walls.

“Is there anything I can help you with now, Mrs. Greenly?”

“No, I think I’ll read for a little while.” Blythe glanced at Eli as she pulled her carpetbag onto her lap. She pushed her canvas sack she refilled with travel food aside as she searched. As she opened her book to the fourth chapter, she sensed Eli lean across the aisle to read the title.

“Pride and Prejudice. Are you enjoying it?”

“Yes. I read it years ago. I decided to read it again while traveling.” Wearing a smile, Blythe turned to Eli. “It was a gift from my mother’s friend when I left her home to begin my job as a maid.”

“You know, you speak as if you are well educated.” Eli cocked his head to the side as he studied her. “Most maids I know don’t know how to read well, if at all. My housekeeper—a wonderful, capable woman—can barely write out a grocery list or read the newspapers I leave for her. Um, I take that back. She does write letters to her family. Most don’t read books like what you are reading.”

“I’ve always enjoyed reading classics. I know many scholars don’t consider Jane Austen’s books classics because they were written by a woman for a female audience. However, my mother’s friend claims it is a classic, and I agree with her.” Blythe turned her gaze away from Eli. “I wasn’t always a maid. My father was a tailor before he died during the war. My mother sold his half of the business to his partner with one of the terms being that the partner would employ her as a tailor at the same wage as his male employees for as long as she wanted. Between her wage and the money from the sale of the business, we lived modestly, but well enough. Mother saw to it I was dressed as befitted a tailor’s daughter. As I grew older, she sent me to one of the better academies for girls. It was my goal to go to normal school and teach. Then the fire happened, and we lost almost everything.”

“The fire?” Eli wrinkled his brow and leaned back in his seat. “Are you referring to the big fire in Chicago that happened several years ago?”

“Almost seven years ago.” Blythe nodded. “The fire destroyed the business where my mother worked. Her employer left Chicago rather than rebuild. My mother’s friend, whose house survived, asked us to move in with her and her husband. I worked as a nanny to help offset expenses, but my days at school were over. My mother’s lungs were never strong. With the cold wind blowing off Lake Michigan, she fought illness almost every winter. Due to the smoke from the fire, her health grew worse. By the end of that winter, she was gone.” She blinked and stared at the pages without seeing.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Mrs. Greenly.” Eli’s voice caught, and then he slowly released a sigh. “It sounds like one tragedy piled upon another.”

“Thank you, Mr. Morgan. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has suffered difficult circumstances.”

“This friend of your mother’s you lived with, she’s the one who gave you the book?”

Again, Blythe nodded. “Once her children were old enough to attend school and she no longer needed a full-time nanny, she felt I had enough experience to hold a maid’s job that paid more than what I received from her. She helped me get on with my…the employer I just left.”

“And you chose to leave her because you decided to marry?”

“Yes.” Blythe huffed a breath through her nostrils. There was far more to it, but he did not need to be bored with the details. She turned her gaze to him and smiled. “Men still leave for the West seeking opportunity. It’s not as easy for women. We do better if we travel with family or knowing there is a stable situation waiting for us once we arrive. After years of not finding any men in Chicago I considered suitable, I began to look elsewhere.”

“But, if I recollect correctly, you did find one. Didn’t you say your husband recently passed?”

Her mouth agape, Blythe felt her muscles freeze, rendering her momentarily incapable of movement. She forced her reluctant lungs to continue breathing. Miserable lie—why did I tell it? She turned to Eli and forced a smile. “Yes. However, it was not a happy marriage. I swore I would not marry another dock worker or anyone like that again. I knew I needed to get away, so I sought out matrimonial advertisements.”

“I see.”

Blythe turned from the gaze coming from his captivating blue eyes. In spite of it being sympathetic, it also penetrated, stabbing her with guilt. She would not tell him what really happened, and she dared not say anything that might provide enough clues to reveal the truth. “Excuse me.” She focused on the page before her.