Walks Alone Read online

  The great frontier, her new home—Denver City.

  Chapter Two

  The New York Grand Central Depot swarmed with people, and after a long wait, Anna’s turn at the counter had finally come.

  “One ticket to Denver City, please,” Anna said to the man behind the window.

  The man pointed to a map on the wall next to him. “The Transcontinental Railroad can only get you as far as Cheyenne, in Wyoming Territory. The rails to Denver City aren’t completed yet.” He raised an eyebrow as if to question what a young lady was doing traveling alone to the Western Territories.

  “Isn’t there a stagecoach from Cheyenne to Denver City?”

  “Yes, but you’ll have to buy your ticket there.”

  “That’ll be fine.” She had hoped the tracks from Cheyenne would have been completed by now.

  “First class or second?”

  “Second.”

  She swallowed hard. It would take close to one third of her savings to get there, but that’s what part of the money was for, and she’d still have enough to buy some material for new dresses when she got to Denver City. All she had now was what she wore.

  The less luggage the better. Besides, all she could have brought were maid’s clothes, and she wanted no memories of her old, miserable life. She handed the man behind the window her cash.

  “Your last change of trains will be in Chicago,” the man said.

  “Thank you.” She accepted her change.

  After wading through people, soot, and noise, Anna finally made it to the hotel car on the train where a porter set her carpetbag on the board above the sofa. She turned and sat.

  Through the window the conductor blew his whistle. “Aaallll aaaboooard!”

  Shortly thereafter, the train lurched forward, and her stomach lurched into her throat. Once the train left the station, it moved at an alarming pace. Houses, buildings, and trees whizzed by, and her knuckles turned white as she gripped the windowsill. She’d never experienced such high speed. But her fear lessened as nothing happened, and she began to feel strangely exhilarated, like a caged bird just released, flying towards freedom, towards home.

  Anna thought of the photo of her papa—the only remembrance she had left—wrapped safely in her carpetbag. Thought of his face staring back at her. Thought of his smile when they’d first arrived in America, of the sparkle in his eyes, and knew they must be sparkling now.

  “Our dream will finally come true,” she whispered.

  ~*~

  Several days later and long past Chicago, Anna sat in the dining car, watching the scenery unfold before her eyes. The landscape spread out for miles. Occasionally, she’d spot a small farm or a ranch, but most of the land was wide-open spaces with fields and rolling hills of yellow, brown, and green. She sipped her tea, noticing the empty plate before her. She hadn’t eaten this well in a long time.

  “May I join you?”

  A young gentleman with a black handlebar mustache stood next to her table. He smiled, put his hands behind his back, and rocked on his feet. “There are no available tables in this car, and I see you are nearly finished.”

  “Oh yes, please, sit down,” she said, ashamed she hadn’t spoken sooner.

  “Steven Kane.” He tipped his hat.

  Anna introduced herself, then stood and prepared to gulp down the rest of her tea.

  “No need to rush. Take your time, enjoy your tea.” The man sat across from her.

  “Thank you.” She settled back into her seat and tried to relax. She’d never shared a table with a man before.

  “And what’s your destination, if I may ask?”

  “Denver City.”

  “That’s where I’m going.” The man’s smile broadened. “So, you’ll be taking the stage from Julesburg.”

  Puzzled, she shook her head. “No. I’ll be taking the stagecoach from Cheyenne.”

  “Cheyenne? There’s nothing in Cheyenne. Why would you go that route?” He chuckled, and then his brows rose in question. “Are you meeting someone?”

  She took a sip from her tea. She didn’t want him to know she wasn’t meeting anyone, and yet, what if she were about to get off at the wrong stop?

  “I was told in New York that I could take a coach from Cheyenne to Denver.” She cleared her throat, trying not to sound too ignorant. “It’s much closer, isn’t it? I mean, closer than Julesburg is to Denver City.” She recalled all her studies of the railroads, and where they were being built, and according to the map, Cheyenne was definitely closer to Denver.

  “Hmm.” Mr. Kane rubbed his chin. “I suppose you’re right, it is closer. But you still have to go a ways on the train, and I know for a fact that the service from Julesburg is much faster. The stagecoach from Julesburg to Denver City has won competitions for its speed.”

  Mr. Kane cocked his head, and his gaze swept from her waist to her face. “You could get off with me. I can assure your safety. That is, if you’re not meeting someone.”

  Anna forced a smile, shifting uncomfortably. “Thank you for your kind offer, Mr. Kane, but I’m meeting my fiancé.” With that, she stood and bade him good day.

  Her conscience bothered her dreadfully for having told such a blatant lie.

  ~*~

  The Pacific Railroad took Anna to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and what a desolate place it was. She stood on the platform, and tumbleweeds followed behind the train’s path as it moved out onto the flat horizon. It felt good to finally be outside in the fresh air, no longer tucked away in the train’s cabin car, and that much closer to the new life awaiting her.

  After days of travel, and still enthusiastic with her newfound freedom, she went to purchase a ticket bound for Colorado Territory. No passengers were on the platform. Actually, no other passengers had gotten off the train. She recalled the large number of people that had gotten off near Julesburg. Surely, if that was where she should have gone, the man in New York would have told her so.

  Her boots echoed off the wooden planks, and she glanced outside the station where three covered wagons and travelers milled about. Good. She wasn’t alone.

  “One ticket to Denver City please,” Anna said to the man behind the window. The mere thought that she had made it this far and was just a few days from her final destination made it difficult for her to stand still.

  The man behind the window looked up with crossed eyes. She couldn’t tell if he was looking at her or at the wall. “I’m afraid the stagecoach to Denver City has already left.” He gnawed on a toothpick. “Won’t be back for another two weeks.”

  “What about a train that will take me back to Julesburg?”

  “Hmm, I’m not sure when it’ll be coming through again. Could be a long while. There’s been trouble on the tracks, so we’re running a bit slow at the moment.”

  Her heart sank. That meant she would have to stay several nights. “Where’s the nearest boarding house?”

  He chuckled as if she’d asked something funny and flipped the toothpick in his mouth with his tongue. “I’m afraid there ain’t no boarding house available, ma’am. But we have a hotel, just across the street here.” He frowned and shook his head. “Mighty expensive though, especially for a whole two weeks’ stay.”

  Anna resisted the urge to cringe. She didn’t want to spend more money than she had to.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t get off near Julesburg. Their service to Denver City by stagecoach is much faster. Most people coming from the East get off there.”

  She bit her lip, remembering the gentleman on the train. Now what would she do?

  “I’m sure those settlers,” he said, pointing toward the wagons, “would let you camp with them.”

  Camp? She hadn’t brought any provisions to go camping.

  “Heck, they might even be headin’ for Denver City. You’d get there a lot faster if you traveled with them.”

  Anna studied the travelers. She could save money if she did that. She counted three women and three men who were probably their husb
ands. She heard the cry of a baby. They were family people. Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to travel with them. Besides, it could prove to be an exciting experience, an adventure.

  “Why don’t you go ask?” The man leaned on the counter, closing one eye so she knew without a doubt he was looking at her. He clenched the toothpick between his teeth. “Watch out for them snakes though. They’ll crawl into your boots at night.”

  Snakes?

  She’d sleep with her shoes on. “Thank you for your help.”

  “Much obliged, ma’am.” He winked.

  Anna grabbed her carpetbag and went toward the wagons hitched outside the station. She stepped off the wooden platform and onto the dusty road. There were a few buildings, and some homesteaders behind those, but none of them looked inviting. Even the new hotel looked empty and dusty. In fact, everything looked dusty—and hot.

  She wiped the sweat from her brow and pulled her hat farther over her head to block the sun. Tumbleweeds rolled at the base of the platform. No trees were in sight, and as far as she could see, there were nothing but hills and plains beyond the buildings. Quite a contrast from the bustling streets of New York City and the busy cobblestone avenues of Amsterdam.

  She looked for the most inviting person she could find and chose the woman holding the baby. The slender woman’s dress was dirty, and loose strands of dark hair fell from her bonnet. Anna felt overdressed as she neared the weary traveler.

  The woman turned to face her. A bruise glared under her right eye, but she smiled, and Anna forced a grin. She knew what that sort of bruise felt like.

  “Just a moment,” the woman said as she handed the baby off to a plump woman behind her.

  The plump lady took the child. “You’re simply wonderful with children. It’s a shame you don’t have any of your own.” She walked away.

  The slender woman’s smile faded as she brushed the dust off her skirt, almost as if she were brushing off the woman’s comment. Three children whizzed between them.

  “I’m Anna.” She smiled, hoping to relieve the tension that rose from the plump woman’s words.

  “I’m Beth.” The young woman’s brown eyes and rosy cheeks lit up, and she would have been quite pretty had it not been for the bruise.

  The woman’s name turned over in Anna’s mind. It ended with a dreadful “th,” but she ought to be able to pronounce it just fine. She’d finally mastered the language over the last six years, but anytime she became nervous, her tongue fumbled a bit.

  “I’m on my way to Denver City, and I was wondering if I may travel with your wagon train, if that’s where you all are headed?”

  “Yes, that’s where we’re going.” Beth smiled, but immediately sobered. “I’ll have to ask my husband.”

  “I have a job waiting for me there.” Anna hoped Beth’s husband would see that she was responsible, a hard worker, and not someone looking for handouts.

  “How nice.” Beth walked over to a covered wagon and arranged some linen inside, focusing on her work. “So, you’re not married then?”

  Anna followed and set her carpetbag down to help. “No.” Her uncle never wanted her to marry. He never allowed her to be seen by anyone, much less courted, and kept her shut up inside to wait on his every need.

  “Are you traveling alone?”

  “Yes,” Anna said.

  Beth took the newly folded linen from Anna and placed it inside the wagon.

  “I’ve come all the way from New York by myself.” Anna lifted her chin, hoping to show Beth that she’d done just fine on her own thus far.

  “I would never have had the courage to travel so far by myself. You’re a brave woman.” The loose strands of Beth’s raven hair brushed against her flushed cheeks in a slight breeze. She quickly tucked the curls back into her bonnet.

  “What are your plans?” Anna asked.

  Beth looked down at her feet then back up at Anna and smiled. “We’re going to be cattle ranchers. As soon as we’re settled, of course.”

  “Are you settling near Denver City?” If they settled nearby, perhaps they could become neighbors, friends.

  “My husband hopes to—”

  “Hopes to?” A man’s voice growled from behind Anna. “I’m going to, woman.” The man stepped in front of them. He glared at Anna. “Where’s my pipe?”

  Was he talking to her? She couldn’t imagine why he’d think she knew where to find his pipe. She looked to Beth for help.

  “You left it next to your rifle when you fell asleep.” Beth pointed a trembling finger at the wagon. “I put it on the buckboard.”

  The man eyed Beth through narrowed slits beneath bushy eyebrows. “Next time, put it where I can find it.” He looked at Anna and motioned with his chin toward her. “Who’s this?”

  The man’s behavior was all too familiar. To think, poor Beth had married such a person. Likely, he was the one who gave her that black eye.

  “This is Miss . . . Anna.” Beth looked at her feet. “She would like to travel with us to Denver City.”

  “I’ve come all the way from New York, sir.” Anna tried to sound as polite as possible even though sparks of anger ignited.

  Looping his thumbs in his suspenders, he looked her up and down.

  She shifted her stance, hoping he would take his filthy eyes off her.

  “You got money?”

  “Oh, Al—”

  Al raised a backhand to his wife.

  Beth cowered, and Anna winced.

  He stopped his swing in midair. “Go fetch my pipe.”

  Beth backed away, and with downcast eyes, hurried around the wagon.

  Towering over her, Al glowered at Anna.

  She stepped back.

  “Food costs money, lady, and if you’re not willing to pay then you can wait here for your iron horse.”

  “The tracks aren’t finished yet, so no train goes from here to Denver City.”

  “I knew that.” He shifted his stance and shoved a fist deep in his pocket.

  By the dumb look on his face, Anna doubted he knew much of anything. Still, she ought to explain why she was so desperate to travel with them. She dreaded being a burden, though she dreaded even more having to pay for two weeks stay in a hotel.

  “I would have to take the stagecoach, and it won’t be here for another fourteen days. I have a teaching job waiting for me.”

  He eyed her up and down as she explained herself.

  “I have money,” she said, thinking how relieved she was that she had put most of it in a small pouch and tied it around her waist where it could be hidden under her dress. “How much do you need?” She had already planned on paying for the stagecoach, which would have been around thirty dollars. She could afford to pay Al that amount.

  His gaze raked over her. “One hundred dollars.”

  “Why, that’s outrageous! That’d buy a horse!”

  He grumbled. “The price is one hundred dollars or nothing.’”

  Her face went hot with anger. She may as well stay over night in the hotel for that price, but how much would all those costs come to? She’d have to pay for the coach, the hotel, and food. She needed all the money she could spare in order to find lodging in Denver when she arrived. Not to mention extra funds for new dresses. And if she stayed, it would mean waiting another two weeks before she reached Denver City, whereas if she traveled with the wagon train, she could get there in just a few days. That alone might make the cost worth it.

  That’s when an idea struck. “Would you be willing to accept jewelry, sir?”

  “What kind?”

  “I have a small, valuable stone that might suit your interests, definitely worth your price.” Really the stone was worth slightly less than one hundred dollars because it had a flaw in it that only a professional would notice. At least that’s what she recalled her papa saying.

  She considered giving him a piece of her fake jewelry, and those paste stones probably would have fooled the brainless brute, but she wouldn’t have fe
lt right about doing that. In all fairness, she ought to pay these people something for allowing her to travel with them.

  “Let me see it,” he said.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I will fetch it.” She curtsied to the man, and went to the front of the wagon where Beth was preparing Al’s pipe. “Is there a place a woman can have a bit of privacy?”

  Beth pointed to a small privy not far from the train depot.

  Anna turned in that direction, and at once, stopped in her tracks. Had she taken leave of her senses?

  She made an about-face. Two other men were preparing their wagons and could escort her on this journey. Surely their rates wouldn’t be as high.

  ~*~

  “I’ve never met such cowardly men,” Anna mumbled to herself as she trudged behind the wagons. Her negotiations with the men had been miserably unsuccessful. Beth had said the others refused to help her because they were frightened of Al. When Anna went around asking the other men what they might offer, Al had become angry.

  It’d been impossible to search for the jewel in that dark privy, so the men allowed her to follow behind the wagon train as long as she gave her word to later produce the stone, plus she’d had to pay each of the other two families a small sum in advance. It had been foolish of her to ask the others for help. The costs had become outrageous, but because she used the stone, it was still cheaper than staying in the hotel for two weeks and on top of that, paying for the coach, clothes, and a boarding house in Denver City. And . . . she’d get to Denver that much sooner.

  So now, several hours later, she trudged behind the three wagons. The sun’s heat bore down on her head, and her hat didn’t offer any protection from its hot rays. She should have gotten off near Julesburg. But she couldn’t think of that right now, it would only make her more miserable. She squinted and glanced up into the blue sky. It took her breath away every time she looked at it. Never in her life had she seen so much sky in one place.