Page 17 of A Groom for Millie
“I don’t care,” she screamed at him. “I want to hold him.”
Robert tied Tanner to the back of the stage and then returned to where Mr. Martin was laying.
“Grab his legs,” Robert said moving to Mr. Martin’s shoulders. Mr. Martin stared at the sky. Robert brushed down his eyes and grabbed underneath the man’s shoulders.
Mrs. Martin and Par each took a leg and followed Robert into the coach where they laid the dead man on the bench. Once the other passengers were in the coach, Par and Robert went to fetch Cletus’s body. They carried him to the back of the stage and propped him against the structure.
“I don’t know how we’re going to get him up there,” Par said.
“Let’s put him over Tanner, instead.”
They lifted Cletus over the saddle and Robert pulled some rope from his saddlebag to secure the man.
“Wait,” Par said. “I want to get a blanket.” Robert watched as the young man pulled a blanket from the driver’s bench and brought it over, gently covering Cletus’ body. Once Cletus was secured over the horse, Robert moved to the front of the coach and climbed up on the driver’s bench.
“This is my stage now,” Par said, wiping away the tears with the back of his hand. “I’ll drive. You get in the coach.”
Robert shook his head. “Not with a dead man.”
“Then shut up while I drive.”
Robert held onto the side of the bench as they rolled towards town.
Millie shifted Mary Rose from one hip to the other trying to alleviate some of the tension in her back. They were just about to go to the post office to see if any letters had arrived when they heard Mr. McFarland yell that the ferry was moving.
It had been nearly two weeks since she sent a letter to Mr. Spaulding. She realized that it was probably too soon to receive a response, but there was always hope. Her mother should be arriving any day as well. Millie didn’t know if Regina Baker was on the stage or not. Since she was in town, she might as well find out.
“Honey, you’ll have to walk,” she said, putting Mary Rose on the ground. Taking her daughter’s hand, they followed the small crowd down to the end of the road. A light breeze came off the water and down Main Street. It blew Millie’s hair from her chignon, and several strands caught in her lips. Brushing her hair aside, she adjusted her scarf, so it covered her ears and mouth. Mary Rose was bundled up like a mountain man, but the cold didn’t seem to bother the young girl.
Millie was convinced that if her daughter could run around without proper clothing all year, she would do it. She was constantly telling Mary Rose to get dressed and put on her shoes.
“Almost here,” Mr. McFarland called.
Millie spied several men moving to the ropes at the edge of the river and start to pull the ferry forward. Since the train tracks ended outside of town, anyone headed to Colorado needed to take a stage from Grand Platte over to Owl Canyon before continuing their journey. No one usually got off the stage in Last Chance, but every time the stage came through there was excitement.
Usually, the stage would bring news from the rest of the states…and mail. Mail is what most of the town was interested in right now. According to Faith, there hadn’t been another sack of letters. Perhaps today was the day that would change.
Millie moved through the crowd and spied Heather sitting in her buggy near the livery. Millie waved and went to join her friend.
“Heather!” Mary Rose said, racing towards the buggy. Heather reached down to lift the small child to her lap, bouncing her for a few seconds before Mary Rose scrambled over the seat into the back of the buggy.
“Where are the children?” Millie asked, looking in the back seat. She didn’t spy Cecily or Arthur in the back of the buggy.
“They are at home. I thought it was too cold for them to be out in this weather.” Heather flipped her lap blanket off the seat. “Come on up. You look frozen.”
“I think I lost feeling in my nose a bit ago.” Millie walked around the buggy and slid into the seat next to Heather. “You got one of Altar’s blankets.”
Heather smiled. “I did. And they are nice and toasty.”
“Are you expecting something?” Millie asked. She could see the ferry approaching over the heads of the onlookers.
“I sent for some medical supplies. Since the town doesn’t have a doctor, I’ve taken inventory of what Doc Woods had in his office. We went through almost everything after the blizzard. Hopefully, my supply order is arriving from Omaha on the stage.”
As the ferry moved closer, Millie could see that there was a man and two boys pulling the rope on the ferry, guiding it towards Last Chance. “That doesn’t look like Cletus,” Millie said, pointing out to the water.
Heather leaned up in her seat. “No, it doesn’t. It seems like they are shouting something.” The wind was drowning out the sound of the yelling.
One of the boys started waving at the people congregating along the shore. The women laughed and waved back. Millie didn’t recognize anyone. As the ferry moved closer, she could see Mr. McFarland yelling back to the ferry. He waved his hand and started running up the hill.
