A Sister’s Hope on the Western Trail (Preview)

Chapter One

Clara took the steps up to the post office two at a time, racing to the window.

“Clara …” Mrs. Faris shook her head, her expression sad. She pulled out three letters and handed them to her. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think any of them are from your sister.”

Clara’s hands shook as she accepted the letters. Sure enough, as she flipped through them, she realized Mrs. Faris was right. None of them was from the frontier. They were from her mother’s friends and family in the city.

“Thank you, Mrs. Faris.” Clara couldn’t keep her voice from breaking as she stepped away from the window, the letters pressed tight against her chest. She didn’t open them as she left the post office.

For the last four weeks, she’d gone to the post office, hoping against all odds that there would be a letter with her sister’s or her cousin’s handwriting across the front. She hated that she would disappoint her parents and her brothers with the bad news once more.

Clara pulled her shawl closer as she walked, her thoughts drifting. Nearly two months since she’d left New York with nothing but a satchel and a stranger’s promise. A husband chosen from a mail-order bride ad. Clara tried to picture her, settled, safe, smiling, but the image never stayed long. If Eloise was out there, why hadn’t she written again?

Sure, she’d fought with their parents and left home without permission, against everything that she was told to do. But even so, it wasn’t like Eloise to ice her out for weeks on end. Especially since her sister must know how worried everyone would be. The original plan was for her to spend a couple of weeks with their estranged cousin, who lived a few days away on the outskirts of New York, before continuing west to meet her husband-to-be. But there had been no word since the first letter Clara received.

By the time Clara reached home, her steps quickened. She recognized the horse outside. It was her brother, Martin’s, horse. She hurried down the short entrance hall and into the parlor, stopping short when she took in the somber atmosphere in the room.

Her parents were seated, stiff-backed and quiet. Martin stood near the mantel, hat in hand. He was eight years older than her, wearing his normal plain coat and watchful eyes that settled on Clara the moment she entered. She didn’t see him as often as she had before he’d gotten married. She knew that his new responsibilities as a husband and provider overshadowed the free time he’d once had. Even so, he was still her brother and visited when he could.

“Clara,” her mother said quickly, rising. “You’re home earlier than I expected. Was there any letter from Eloise?”

Clara shook her head, her gaze flicking back to her brother. “Did something happen? Where’s Jonah?” Her little brother was usually home from school by now.

“Jonah had to stay late at school.” Martin glanced toward the door, looking almost grateful their little brother wasn’t there yet. “I got a telegram back from Cousin Amira.” His shoulders fell, and disappointment reared in his gaze. “Eloise left after staying for three weeks. She left for Red Bluff, Colorado, two weeks ago, as planned.”

Clara swallowed hard. They’d feared as much. Having it confirmed was hard, though.

Martin cleared his throat. “Maybe she’s arrived safely and sent us a letter, but it hasn’t arrived yet.”

“That can’t be. Mail doesn’t take that long. She wouldn’t forget to write.” Clara remembered the letter Eloise had sent a few days after arriving at Cousin Amira’s. “Someone has to go after her, to find her, and see what happened.”

“I …” Martin shook his head. “I’d like to go, but you know Nancy is expecting, and my job …”

“You can’t, and don’t feel bad about it. We understand,” Clara’s father spoke up. worry playing on his face.

“I will write to a friend in Clearwater Junction. He could maybe check in at the stagecoach office and see if she passed through. It could take time for me to get a response, though.” Martin looked so apologetic, and yet, it didn’t feel like enough of an answer.

Clara’s mother dabbed her eyes. “If we’d given her enough money to take the train …” She couldn’t finish her sentence. Their parents had been so against Eloise leaving home to pursue a mail-order bride ad out west that they’d refused to help Eloise financially.

Eloise had to take the route by stagecoach, instead of cutting it in half due to a lack of funds.

“So,” Clara said slowly, “you’re giving up on the search?”

“It’s not like that,” Martin argued. “Once we are certain she needs help, we’ll go after her.”

“How long do you want to wait? It’s been five weeks since she left home, and four since we heard from her.” Panic clawed at Clara’s chest. She needed to get to Eloise, to see her again and make sure she was alive and well.

“We could hire an investigator, but …” Her father didn’t finish his thought, but she knew what he would say. An investigator would charge, and his fee would add up.

Her parents had a certain amount of money, something they always attributed to their strong faith and their hard work. But even so, they didn’t have endless resources, and they couldn’t pay for someone to search for Eloise in the way it needed to happen.

Clara took a shuddering breath.

Her mother reached over and took Clara’s hand in hers, but Clara gently pulled away.

“If you’ll excuse me …” Clara fought the feeling she might burst into tears. Her voice sounded distant to her own ears. “I think I need some air.”

She didn’t wait for permission. She turned and ran upstairs, rushing down the hall until she reached her room. She stepped inside, closing her bedroom door behind her with more force than she intended, pressing her back against the door for a few seconds before crossing the room to her bed.

Clara sat on the edge of her bed, the letters from earlier still clutched in her hand, as if they were mocking her. They weren’t the letters she wanted to receive, and she’d forgotten all about them since coming home. She reached into her bedside table drawer and pulled out a single folded sheet, creased thin from being opened too many times.

Eloise’s last letter. Clara had received it almost ten days after her sister left home. She could tell that it had been written around a week after her sister left, though. The time it took to arrive added to the period of silence.

She unfolded it carefully, as though it might fall apart if she wasn’t gentle. What if those had been Eloise’s last words?

My dearest Clara,

I’m so sorry for leaving the way I did. I know I should have said more, explained myself better. Mama and Papa just wouldn’t believe me, and I couldn’t back out on my word. I’ve been praying about this for so long, and I do feel as if God is leading me out west to be a service to people there. I know it’s hard to understand, and it’s hard to accept, but I can feel with every ounce of peace in my heart that this is where I’m supposed to be headed.

The train is wonderful, and already, I’ve seen so many sights and scenes since leaving home. I know that it is not what you want to hear, considering how I left, but I can’t help feeling the need to share it all with you. I arrived at Cousin Amira’s the day before yesterday. It is strange that we’ve had a cousin who lives so close, but we’ve never met all these years. Then in three weeks, I’ll be in Colorado to meet my husband-to-be. Say goodbye properly to Martin and Jonah for me.

Once I meet my new husband and get settled out west, I will write to you and recount every moment of my journey. You’ll love the stories I have to tell, Clara. I hope, in time, you can understand why I had to go, and I have to believe that you will forgive me.

Please be there for Mama and Papa and help them see that I did not do this out of rebellion or wanting to go against them, but only because I do believe it to be the right thing.

Clara swallowed and kept reading.

I’ll be traveling by stagecoach soon, and then in a few weeks, my new life will truly start. I miss you, Dear Clara, and our parents, but at the same time, I am filled with thrilling excitement at what is to come.

With all my love,

Eloise

Clara’s fingers trembled against the paper.

She’d had time to travel to Colorado. She could be happily married, but there was no way of knowing. There was no letter. No word. Nothing but silence stretching farther with every passing day.

Clara folded the letter back up and put it in the drawer, her thoughts racing despite her effort to slow them. Eloise had never been careless. Never cruel. She wouldn’t simply disappear without reason. Not after promising Clara that she would write.

Unless something had changed.

A hollow ache settled beneath Clara’s ribs. Her family was willing to wait because there was no one suitable to pursue her sister. But Clara felt there was more at stake. They all did, deep down. Eloise was the sensitive, sweet, and even naive one of the sisters, and she wouldn’t last a week without wanting to write home. She’d shown that by sending her first letter only days after arriving at their cousin’s house.

Eloise would never abandon her family without a word, regardless of the circumstances that made her leave in the first place.

She had to have answers; she had to know what happened to her sister. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t, and she had a feeling her parents wouldn’t be able to either. Just because Martin couldn’t do it, and a private investigator wasn’t an option right now, didn’t mean that someone couldn’t go, that she couldn’t go.

Sudden determination swept through Clara as she stood and wiped tears from her cheeks. She had suggested it before, twice now, but this time was different. She had to find a way to convince them that the way to find answers was to allow someone to go west who cared for Eloise, who loved her, and who truly wanted to know what had become of her.

When she returned downstairs, the parlor looked smaller and felt heavier. Martin was gone. Only her parents remained.

Her mother sat on the parlor seat, a handkerchief pressed to her mouth, her shoulders trembling despite her efforts to remain composed. Her father stood by the window, staring out at the darkening street as if willing Eloise to walk up the steps would make it true.

They both turned when Clara entered.

“Oh, Clara,” her mother said, rising at once. Tears slipped free from Clara before she could stop them.

Clara could feel her mother’s pain. “I just can’t help thinking of her. So far away. And us here, knowing nothing.”

Clara wrapped her arms around her mother, holding her while they both cried. She felt the familiar urge to be the steady one, the way she always had been when Eloise cried as a child. Her sister was only three years younger than her, and yet, it always felt as if she were taking care of Eloise.

“I need to go find out what happened to her,” Clara said in a low voice, pulling back after a few long moments.

“I should go. We can’t send you out there …” Her father turned from the window, a determined set to his features. “Maybe if we wait, Martin can find the time to …”

“You would lose your job if you left for so long, and so would he. I can do this, Pa. Eloise was always so trusting, so determined to put herself at risk for anyone else. Something happened, and we all need to find out what it was.”

Her parents exchanged glances, and when the adamant refusal didn’t come immediately as it had in the past, Clara went on, “She promised me she would write. “I know she was upset with both of you wanting her to abandon her engagement, but no matter how upset she was, she wouldn’t break that promise she made to me without reason.” Clara took a breath, steadying herself. “I want to go after her.”

The words settled slowly.

“Absolutely not,” her father said at last. “Clara, that’s dangerous. The West is no place for a young woman alone.”

“I wouldn’t be alone,” Clara said quickly. “I’d make arrangements, I would stay in only well-traveled groups. I’d be careful.”

Her mother shook her head, reaching for her hand. “It’s too far. Too uncertain. What makes you think you could find her?”

“Someone has at least to look for her,” Clara replied. “She arrived weeks ago. She’s my sister. You only have to pay for my expenses, and I’ll use all the time I need to track down answers. Her voice shook despite her efforts. “I can’t stay here wondering if she’s truly safe. If something is wrong, and we did nothing …

“You both know Eloise. You know this doesn’t feel right,” Clara continued to plead.

Silence followed. Clara could hear her own heartbeat.

“I have to do this. Please, give me your blessing.” Her words were full of all the feelings that had been pent up for weeks. She needed answers; her sister might need her.

Her mother gasped softly. “Clara …”

“I won’t give up,” Clara said, meeting her parents’ eyes. “I can’t. She’s my sister.”

Her father exhaled slowly, the fight draining from his shoulders. He exchanged a long look with her mother, who wiped her eyes but said nothing.

“At the very least,” her father said at last, “we deserve to know the truth.”

Her mother nodded, reluctantly. “And if you’re set on this … perhaps it’s better you go prepared.”

Clara’s breath caught. “You’ll let me?”

Her father hesitated, then nodded once. “Reluctantly,” he said. “And only because I know you won’t rest otherwise.”

Clara stepped forward and embraced them both, relief and fear tangling together in her chest. The answers she needed lay somewhere west. And now, at last, she was allowed to go find them.

Chapter Two

Eddie McKenna rode at an easy pace, keeping one eye on a wandering steer while the other tracked the fence line ahead. The rhythm of the work settled into his bones the way it always did. Cattle, land, sky. Things that made sense. Things he could get lost in.

Jacob rode up alongside him, twirling his rope once before letting it rest against his saddle horn. “You’re quiet today.”

Eddie huffed a breath. “I’m always quiet.”

“Not like this,” Jacob said. “The wedding day is coming up, isn’t it?”

Eddie nodded. “She’s due in on the stagecoach soon.”

“Your wife,” Jacob added, like the word deserved emphasis.

Eddie didn’t answer right away. He guided his horse closer to the herd, correcting a slow drift, then settled back into place. It sounded strange coming out of his friend’s mouth, and it was going to be even stranger when it was true.

“That’s what the papers say.” Marriage wasn’t something he wanted, and that much hadn’t changed. He was dreading tomorrow.

Jacob grinned. “Guess you’ll be married any day?”

“Yes,” Eddie said. “Not that I’m counting.” He had been counting, with relief. Guilt rushed through him. Perhaps he should feel bothered that Eloise had decided to visit her cousin for three weeks before joining him. But it hadn’t bothered him a bit. It only made him think that she was also on board with the idea of a contract marriage.

He had the letters Eloise had sent telling him her plans; they were dated weeks ago, but he’d only received them a fortnight earlier. She’d sent more than one letter during that time, but only one had been meant for him. The other had a woman’s name on it, with the same last name as Eloise’s.

Clara Whiteford.

She’d mentioned she had a sister, so he figured the second letter had accidentally been sent to him when it was intended for her. It was a mix-up that could happen with the mail system. Letters getting lost in the confusion were commonplace at times, especially if she’d sent them at the same time. He’d thought about writing to her, letting her know of the error, but figured that in the time it would take to reach her, he might as well wait patiently and iron out the mix-up when she arrived.

Jacob laughed. “You must be smitten.”

“Huh?” Eddie had gotten so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t even heard his friend’s rambling.

The truth was, he’d been thinking about it more than he cared to admit. He couldn’t believe his father had managed to manipulate him into the one thing he’d been determined never to do, even from beyond death.

“You nervous?” Jacob asked.

Eddie shrugged. “No point in being nervous now.”

“That’s not an answer.”

Eddie sighed. “I’m curious,” he said at last. “I’d like to know she’s arrived safely, and I’d like to get all the official stuff out of the way sooner than later. That’s all.”

Jacob studied him for a moment. “And after that?”

Eddie glanced over. “After that, what?” He tried to keep the annoyance from his voice. He already knew Jacob disapproved of the arrangement. He disapproved of it himself.

Jacob’s mouth curved into something knowing. “How do you expect to meet a woman you’ve never laid eyes on and make a life with her? Fall in love and all that.”

Eddie scoffed. “No one said anything about love.” He’d given up on the notion a long time ago.

Jacob raised a brow. “Didn’t they? That’s kind of the idea of marriage.

Eddie shifted in the saddle. “This wasn’t my idea. It was my father’s condition, remember? Marry, settle, carry on the family name, or lose my ranch. I’m honoring his wishes. That’s all. I put too much work, too much of my life into this ranch to let it get thrown away like that.” It wasn’t so clear-cut, and it brought a rush of anger into him.

His father abandoned him, and yet, he had the nerve to control the direction of his life. The truth was, he was in debt. Without his father’s inheritance, he’d lose his ranch and everything he’d tried to build over the last several years.

“And the woman?” Jacob asked. “Where does she fit into all that?”

Eddie didn’t answer right away. The cattle moved on, down the pasture. This place had been his pride. He’d spent his youth growing the ranch, tending to it. Losing it hadn’t been an option.

“I made it clear that our marriage would be … unconventional. She wants to come and teach children to read. She wants to be a teacher,” Eddie said finally. “She has reasons other than marriage to want to be here with me, same as I do with her. We’re giving each other something we both need.”

Jacob nodded slowly. “That doesn’t sound like a bad place to start.”

“Maybe,” Eddie said. “Or maybe it’s just practical.”

Jacob smiled faintly. “Practical men still have hearts, Eddie.”

Eddie urged his horse forward, trying to end the conversation. Tomorrow, she’d arrive. Eloise. A name on paper made real. Whatever came after that, he’d face it when it stood in front of him. That’s how he liked dealing with things, one step at a time.

Jacob didn’t follow right away. Eddie heard his horse slow, then fall back, before Jacob urged it forward again. When he rode up beside him, his expression had changed, less teasing now, more serious.

“I don’t like it,” Jacob said. Of course, he didn’t. Jacob was a stand-up Christian man who hated the thought of injustice.

Eddie glanced at him. “Didn’t ask you to.” Deep down, he wanted Jacob to understand where he was coming from, his motivations, but perhaps it was too much to ask.

“You’re talking about a young woman,” Jacob continued. “One who’s crossing half the country to marry a man she’s never met. And you’re telling me you don’t intend to love her or offer her the possibility of something real.”

Eddie exhaled sharply. “I’m not the kind of man who can find love and make a family on something that doesn’t exist. I’m practical, and hopefully, she’ll understand that.”

“That doesn’t make it right.”

“It makes it honest,” Eddie shot back. He reined in slightly as a steer veered off, then continued. “She answered the advertisement, knowing full well what I was offering. A home. Stability. A legal marriage. Not a romance.”

Jacob shook his head. “People don’t uproot their lives for contracts. Not unless they’re desperate or hoping for more than what’s written on paper.”

“That’s her choice,” Eddie said. “Just like it was mine.” He tried to ignore the little stab of guilt in his ribs. Was Jacob right? Was Eloise some desperate girl, on the run, or was she desperately searching for romance? Thinking she could change him?

Jacob was quiet for a moment. “You ever think a true love match might’ve been better?”

Eddie’s jaw tightened. “Love doesn’t keep a ranch running.” It broke hearts; that was what it did. He knew that lesson from personal experience, something from which he was still recovering.

“No,” Jacob said gently. “But it might keep you from turning into stone.”

Eddie shot him a look, but Jacob wasn’t smiling now. He was serious, concern visible on his face.

“I’m not mistreating her.” Eddie shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t used to such a serious nature when it came to his conversations with Jacob. “She’ll have respect. Security.”

Jacob sighed. “I just don’t like the idea of you trapping yourself in such a lonely life like that.”

“That’s not your problem.”

Jacob gave a short nod. “No. But you’re my friend.” He hesitated, then added, “Even so … I hope it works out for you. Truly.”

Eddie didn’t respond. He tipped his hat forward and focused on the herd, but Jacob’s words followed him long after the cattle were settled and the work slowed.

After they got the cattle settled, Eddie bid Jacob goodbye and did the evening chores. He couldn’t shake the conversation or the lingering doubts with which Jacob had left him.

He locked up the barn for the night, then sat alone on the porch, the yard stretching dark and quiet before him. The night air was cool against his skin. This was the hour when thoughts had a way of surfacing, no matter how deeply buried.

He hadn’t always believed love was a foolish thing. Back when he was young, straight out of the orphanage, and looking for a better future, he thought there could be something to having a woman. Back then, he’d thought his father had forgotten about him. He’d been nothing short of surprised when his father had showed back up in the form of a lawyer, stating that he’d left him a large inheritance, with a stipulation in a will. Sometimes, he wished his father’s lawyer had never reached out to him after his death. But despite his misgivings about the situation, or accepting anything from the man who abandoned him, his father was dead, and he was drowning in debt. He figured, at least his father could pay him back in some small way for how he’d suffered all those years alone.

He pushed away the memory of his father and focused on Anya. He could still remember Anya’s laugh, warm and full of genuine light whenever she was near. He loved her, and then that love caused him so much pain when he’d lost her. She lost her life too young. Her parents couldn’t even bear to look at him up to the day they left town. Then there was Megan, a few years later. He’d met her when she’d come west with her family, visiting distant relatives. Something about Megan pulled him to her.

He’d imagined a future once again. Opened his heart, thinking it was worth the risk. They’d spoken of plans, of building something together. She’d listened, smiling, until her parents announced they were returning to the city.

Megan couldn’t stay. She couldn’t be so far from everything she knew. From society. From comfort. From certainty. Not for him, not for the love she claimed to have for him.

“I don’t want to be alone out here,” she’d said. As if he weren’t right there, begging her to stay.

Alone. As if he and the life he’d offered were emptiness itself.

He’d watched her leave, the wagon disappearing down the road, and told himself it was better that way. Better to know early what people chose when given the option to stay or go.

Everyone he cared about left. That was the truth from when he was a child, too young to remember his mother, who passed away.

He had been abandoned by so many. His eyes jumped to the sky. He wasn’t sure if God wanted to punish him for something or simply didn’t care enough about him to keep those around him from disappearing.

Eddie leaned back in his chair, staring out into the dark. Caring only gave people the power to walk away and take something with them. Something you didn’t get back.

This new arrangement was different. Controlled. Defined. No promises beyond what could be kept. A contract marriage didn’t ask for his heart. It didn’t require hope.

Tomorrow, Eloise would arrive. He already knew what it would bring, the changes that would come. No matter if Jacob was right. If she were on the run, then so be it. He’d keep her safe. And if she wanted to change him, he’d make it clear up front that it would never happen, and she was wasting her time. Love was a risk he’d already taken twice. He wouldn’t make the same mistake again.