Page 288 of Conveniently Wed
AUNDY BY SHANNA HATFIELD
1
EASTERN OREGON
Clickety-clak. Clickety-clak. Clickety-clak.
The sound of the train kept perfect time with the runaway thumping of Aundy Thorsen’s heart. Each beat took her closer to an uncertain future and she wondered what madness possessed her to make such a rash decision.
“Miss?” A gentle tap on her arm brought Aundy’s head around to look into the friendly face of the porter. “We’ll be in Pendleton soon. Just wanted to let you know.”
“Thank you,” Aundy said with a smile, nodding her head. The porter had been helpful and kind, answering her many questions and making two rowdy salesmen intent on bothering her relocate to a different car.
Aware that she was asking for trouble traveling alone, Aundy figured since she was taller than most men and not considered beautiful, she wouldn’t have any problems. The persistent salesmen had been the only nuisance in an otherwise uneventful, yet exciting adventure.
Growing up in Chicago, she’d never traveled any farther than her aunt’s stuffy home across town. Aundy tried to commit to memory each detail of her trip that would soon end in Pendleton, Oregon. Once there, she would marry Erik Erikson, a farmer who wanted a Norwegian bride.
Her betrothed, a man she had yet to meet, offered to travel to Chicago so they could wed there, then make the trip to Pendleton as a married couple. Aundy had assured him she would be safe traveling alone, although she was grateful for the train ticket and generous sum of money Erik had provided to cover her expenses. Aundy had saved most of it, accustomed to living frugally and making each penny count.
However, she wished she’d purchased something to eat at their last stop. She willed the rumbling in her empty stomach to discontinue.
Suddenly overcome with the thought that she would soon meet Erik and become his bride, nerves rapidly replaced her hunger.
Although Erik wasn’t the first man to whom Aundy had found herself engaged, he would be the first she married. Not willing to think about the affectionate glances and gentle smile of the playful boy who had stolen her heart, she instead focused her thoughts on the man awaiting her.
Six months ago, desperate to make a change in her life, Aundy happened upon a discarded newspaper and her gaze fastened on an advertisement for a mail-order bride.
Normally one to ignore such nonsense, Aundy felt drawn to the words written by a farmer named Erik Erikson.
Wanted: someone to build a future with and share in my dreams. Seeking loving wife with a tender heart and gentle spirit. Must be willing to move to Pendleton, Oregon.Hard worker, good cook, and Norwegian ancestry preferred. Farm experience helpful, but not essential. Outward beauty irrelevant. Please reply to…
Intrigued, Aundy had ripped the advertisement out of the paper and carried it around in her pocket for two weeks, debating if she should send a reply. Finally, she sat down and composed a letter to Erik Erikson of Pendleton, a town in the northeastern corner of Oregon, a place she’d never heard of and certainly never dreamed of seeing.
She wrote about her life, how she worked as a seamstress at a factory during the day then helped cook and clean at a boardinghouse in exchange for her room and board. Not considered beautiful by any sense of the word, Aundy had assured him she had a strong constitution, a tender heart, and a willingness to work hard. She described how her parents, both from good Norwegian families, had made certain their three children knew their heritage.
Convinced she’d never receive a reply, Aundy was surprised when a letter arrived from Erik. He invited her to correspond with him so they could get to know one another better before making any decisions or commitments.
They wrote back and forth, sharing bits of information about themselves, their families, their hopes and dreams. Aundy came to like the man in the letters penned with a confident hand.
Erik had written he wasn’t much to look at, had never been married, and owned a farm that was on its way to being prosperous. He’d shared how lonely his life seemed and how much he longed to have a family of his own.
When he’d written saying he was in love with her letters and asked if she’d agree to marry him, she quickly replied with her consent, changing the course of her future. Betrothedfor the second time in her young life, Aundy had no delusions about being in love with Erik. Love died along with her beloved Gunther two years earlier.
Nonetheless, she had plenty of admiration and respect to share with Erik along with her devotion and loyalty. Even if she never brought herself to love the man, she would be a caring, gentle wife.
Forcefully returning her thoughts to the present, Aundy took a shallow breath in the train car filled with the mingling odors of stale food, unwashed bodies, and smells from the washroom.
She longed to press her warm cheek against the cool glass of the window. Instead, she tipped her head so she could see over the sleeping woman beside her to admire the brilliant blue sky, pine-dotted mountains, and snow-covered ground outside.
The train chugged through the rugged Blue Mountains, and Aundy realized she was farther away from her familiar world than she’d ever imagined possible.
Tamping down her fears of what waited ahead, she pulled a handkerchief out of her reticule. Carefully rubbing her cheeks, she hoped to remove the worst of the soot. Grime covered every inch of her being from the long trip. She couldn’t wait to soak in a tub of hot water, wash her hair, and dress in clean clothes.
She sincerely hoped Erik wouldn’t mind if she did that before she put on her wedding dress and exchanged nuptials with him. He hadn’t mentioned his plans for when they would wed, but she assumed he would want to do so as soon as possible. If her assumptions proved true, she supposed she would most likely be Mrs. Erik Erikson before the end of the day.
That thought made her grip the reticule so tightly in her hands her fingers cramped inside her soft leather gloves.
A light touch on her arm drew Aundy’s gaze to the woman who sat beside her for much of the trip.
