Page 10 of Scarlett

Chapter Four

Bangs soundedon the front door.

“What now?” Emmett grumbled and opened it to find the young man who did errands for most of the townsfolk.

“Telegram for you,” the boy said, handing him the thin paper and rushing away.

Emmett went to the kitchen and poured coffee. It was lukewarm, but he was much too weary to heat the pot as it would require adding wood to the stove.

It had been a long day. Patient after patient had streamed into the clinic. Everyone was coming down with some sort of grippe, which was spreading over the area. He’d treated three families so far and was sure more were coming.

Usually when he got telegrams, it was either his mother demanding he and his brothers return to Boston or from his accountant, also back east.

Once settled into a chair, he opened the telegram and skimmed it. He sat up straighter, eyebrows lifted.

Mr. Jones

In response to your letter.

Mail Order Bride possible.

Twenty-eight-year-old Scarlett Franklin,

in need of husband.

If you are agreeable

Respond immediately

Lady Eugenia Price, Philadelphia

This was it. Time to make a decision.

Emmett shook his head and leaned back against the chair closing his eyes. Ignoring the growling of his stomach, he tried to remember what he’d written in the letter.

His brother Elias had found a wife after placing an ad with a mail order bride publication back east. Actually, Lady Price’s publication to be exact.

Although his brother was happily married now, at first he and Esther had not gotten along at all. In Emmett’s opinion, they were well suited. Both were too headstrong. However, they did seem happy.

Both were much too set in their ways and often had spats. According to Elias, the arguments often ended in a very refreshing way.

Admittedly, other than Isabel, the local preacher’s daughter and schoolmarm, there were no other single women in town.

The only alternative for finding a wife would be to travel east or to larger towns. Even in bigger areas, women were hard to find. Those that arrived were often quickly courted and married off.

What did this Scarlett Franklin look like, he wondered? Then thinking more about it, did it even matter? If he were to marry, it would not be because of looks, but because of the need to settle, have a family and not have to do for himself on nights like these when the weariness of the day pressed down so hard, it made every single bone in his body ache.

Emmett wokewith a start when his head fell sideways. He’d fallen asleep in the chair. Sunlight streaked through the front window announcing it was quite late in the day.

Something had woken him.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

It has to be another sick person or messenger at the front door.

He lifted from the chair slowly as his body protested moving. Not only did his neck hurt, his back ached.

Outside on the porch stood a woman holding a young child and another by the hand. She looked up at him with sad eyes. “My husband is too ill to come to the clinic. Doctor Jones, can you please come see about him? I’m worried. He is not well at all.”