Free Mail Order Bride: The Master: A Historical Mail Order Bride Story (Mail Order Brides) by Lily Wilspur

Chapter 1
     
    “Did you see her? She just got off the train.”
    “I saw her. She’s tall, with curly brown hair.”
    “She’s pretty. And she looked nice. I liked her.”
    “You don’t even know her!”
    “I still liked her.”
    Ten-year-old Matthew Burke huddled behind the corner of the school house with his friends. They spoke in low murmurs to prevent anyone from over-hearing their conversation. Only a few more minutes remained before the School Master rang the bell to call them back inside for the rest of the day’s lessons. They had to make use of every spare moment.
    “I’m going back around to the station just as soon as school gets out,” Alan Watkins announced. “You should come with me, Matthew. I want to get another good look at her.”
    “Has the Master seen her yet?” Timothy Porter asked.
    “He’s been here at the schoolhouse all day,” Alan replied. “He hasn’t had a chance to get over to the station to see her. Imagine marrying someone you’ve never even met before! I couldn’t do it.”
    “My father says its blame foolishness,” Timothy added. “The person could have something wrong with them, or they could be permanently deranged. You never know what you’re going to get. And once you marry them, you’re stuck with them for life.”
    “What does ‘permanently deranged’ mean?”Matthew asked.
    Timothy waved his hand. “Oh, I don’t know! But that’s what my father says, so it must be true.”
    “Well,” Matthew put in. “we can only wait until Sunday to see if the Master actually marries her. Maybe she’ll change her mind at the last second. Or maybe the Master won’t like her and he’ll send her home.”
    “Does that really happen?” Timothy asked.
    “I don’t know,” Matthew replied, “but I’m going to make sure I go to church on Sunday so I can see the wedding.”
    “What?” Timothy gasped. “You, go to church? I never thought I’d live to see the day. Your father usually has to strap you just to get you out of bed on Sunday morning.”
    “Maybe he does,” Matthew admitted. “But this is different. I’m going to be there. I don’t care if the creeks rise and the road washes out. I’m going to see the Master get married.”
    In spite of their best intentions, their voices rose with their excitement. Felix Bartlett overheard them and sidled over to their meeting. “What are you talking about? Did I hear you mention the Master’s new bride?”
    “We aren’t talking to you, Felix,” Alan snarled. “You mind your own business and leave us alone.”
    “I can go wherever I want,” Felix declared. “You can’t stop me. I heard you talking about the Master’s bride.”
    “No, we weren’t,” Timothy replied.
    “So what if we were?” Matthew interjected. “It still doesn’t concern you.”
    “It does so concern me,” Felix shot back. “I happen to know she got off the train this morning, and I saw my father riding over to the station when we came out of the schoolhouse just now. He told me this morning he was going to go over there and meet her before the Master had a chance to get away.”
    Matthew’s eyes widened, and he caught his breath. “What does your father want with the Master’s bride?”
    Felix propped his fists on his hips. “My father says he’s gonna take that bride for himself. He says he’s gonna get to her before the Master even meets her at the station. And he says he’s going to come to the church on Sunday and see to it that the Master doesn’t marry her. He says the Master is a lily-livered coward. He’ll never stand up to my father.”
    “What does your father have against the Master?” Matthew asked. “Your father is always going out of his way to make the Master’s life as hard as he can.”
    “My father can’t stand the Master,” Felix sneered. “He says the Master’s head is too big for his body.”
    Timothy rubbed his jaw. “His head looks about the right size to me.”
    “My father says,”