He glanced at her for only a moment, then fixed his gaze straight ahead. “We go to our houses and pack. Take what’s important for setting up our household. I’ll come with the wagon in the morning and bring a couple of empty wooden crates. We can’t take much in the way of furniture, but we’ll try to take what we can. Hopefully we can buy stuff in Cheyenne.”
“I want to take Carrie’s feeding chair. Can we manage that?”
“We will,” Edward replied. “We’ll do whatever we have to do to make this work.”
Whether he was talking about the chair or their situation, Marybeth wasn’t sure.
4
Marybeth woke well before dawn to finish her packing. She had already managed to put together a stack of household goods that she felt were important to bring. Then there were a few things that she hoped to never be parted from: her mother’s favorite dishes, a couple of quilts her mother had made, as well as one Marybeth had made for Carrie.
There had been so much food left over from people bringing it after her father had died that Marybeth urged the neighbors to come and get what they wanted after she packed a basket with items for the trip. They were happy to oblige. None of the folks around her were very well-off, and the extra was much appreciated. Once the food was cleared out, Marybeth washed and dried all the dishes. She would arrange with George to get them to Inga, who could then see that they got back to the women in the church.
After breakfast, Mrs. Parker’s oldest girl had come to get Carrie. They had arranged for her to play next door while Marybeth did her final packing. It seemed there was still so much to do and so little time. Thankfully, she had done upall of the laundry the day before the funeral. It had kept her too busy to think about burying her father and now freed her up from a lot of last-minute washing.
She folded up the last of Carrie’s clothes and put them in a small leather suitcase. She would keep this with her on their trip. It contained all that Carrie would need, including some warmer clothes they’d purchased along with the new shoes.
After this was done, Marybeth assessed the stacks of things in the living room. She had towels, washcloths, and linens for the bed—things that they would need for their new home. With those, she added two cast-iron skillets, a large soup pot, and two smaller pots, along with various kitchen utensils. She had done her best to keep things to a minimum and pack things inside of other things so as to take less space, but it was imperative they have the things that would help them establish comfort in their new home.
Last night she had repacked her sewing basket to include everything she thought she might need in order to mend and make clothes. In a second basket, she gathered bandages, ointments, and other items that would be useful when someone came down sick. She supposed there would be such things in Cheyenne but couldn’t be sure. Cheyenne was in the wild frontier, and even with the train now reaching them, supplies might be very limited.
She knew they would have to pay extra for each piece of freight and wanted so much to pack only what was absolutely necessary. Especially since she had no idea of what Edward would be bringing along.
When a knock sounded at the front door, Marybeth figured it would be Edward and went to open it without worry. Instead, she found Pastor Orton with Thomas and Martha Wandless. But this time, rather than be afraid, Marybeth smiled.
“Good morning.” She glanced at each person.
“Please forgive the early hour, but I worried that we might not catch you. I stopped by yesterday, and you were apparently gone. We’ve come to talk to you about Carrie. May we come in?” Pastor Orton asked.
“You may, but I haven’t long to discuss any matter. I’m leaving soon.”
“This needn’t take long.”
Marybeth stepped back from the open door and allowed the trio to enter. When everyone was inside, Marybeth closed the door and joined them. They all seemed quite interested in her stacks of goods.
“What’s going on here?”
Before Marybeth could answer the pastor, the door behind her opened, and Edward entered the house. His action surprised her. Usually, he knocked and waited to be invited in, but this time he just walked in as though he owned the place. Marybeth smiled. She supposed he did, now that they were married.
“Pastor, Mr. and Mrs. Wandless.” He gave each a nod. “I figured to stop by your place. What brings you around so early?”
“I was just telling Marybeth that we didn’t want to miss seeing her as we did yesterday,” the pastor replied. He frowned slightly. “Are you accustomed to just walking in unannounced?”
“I wasn’t, but yesterday Marybeth and I got married.”
Marybeth went to Edward’s side and looked back at the pastor. “We did.”
Edward seemed to anticipate that the older man might not quite believe him and pulled out the marriage certificate. “You can see it for yourself.”
The pastor took the paper and read it. “I must say I’m quite surprised.”
“Well, sometimes God has plans that surprise all of us,” Edward said, taking back the paper.
“I suppose I’m glad that you’re here, since we’ve come to persuade Marybeth to allow Mr. and Mrs. Wandless to adopt her sister, Carrie.”
Marybeth tensed, but Edward gently took hold of her arm. “I’m sorry, folks, but Marybeth and I have no intention of giving Carrie up. She’s a part of our family.”
The pastor cleared his throat. “Now, see here, you two are just getting started and will no doubt have a family of your own. But Carrie needs a family too. Mr. and Mrs. Wandless are the perfect couple to raise her. They can offer her every comfort.”
