Westbound (Love Travels West, Book 1)

Chapter 2. Disappointments.

It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.-J.R.R. Tolkien.

Chapter 2.

Disappointments.

   With a huff and a puff, the steam engine pulled into the station. The wheels of the train cars screeched as the brakes were applied and the whole train slowly came to a stop.

   Dannie took a deep breath, this was it. Her journey was finally over.

   And what a journey it had been. The carriages were hot, the wooden seats hard, and most of the company less than desirable. Dannie of course knew America was bigger than England, but somehow she hadn't realized just how much bigger. The rails went on and on and at one point Dannie had been sure she couldn't take anymore. But take it she did, and now at last her patience was being rewarded.

   Reaching into her handbag she pulled out the letter from Mr. Lawrence, her new employer. She had read and reread it during the trip. In fact, she knew the entire thing by heart. Despite this she once again scanned its contents.

   ...Clearbrook is a growing, bustling town, the central point for cattle teams as they passed on their way to California. It had a saloon, a bank, several hotels, a livery, and a post office. You could say it's the center of trade in Arizona Territory...

   Glancing up from the letter, Dannie looked in dismay. For one thing, the train station hardly even resembled a decent station. It was built entirely from wood, which gave it a rugged, wild, unsophisticated appearance.

   "Well, maybe it will be better once I actually get out and have a good look at the town itself." She concluded and rose from her seat. Taking her carpetbag, she walked down the train aisle, the last to leave the car, and stepped down onto the platform.

   "In Collingwood the conductor would have helped me down," she mumbled to herself with a frown. Once on the platform, she made her way to the station room, where it had been agreed that her new employer would meet her. There were a lot of people and she was jostled and bumped about.

   "Git out of the way, Miss," someone rudely told her.

   "Obviously hospitality is not a virtue in Clearbrook," Dannie grumbled to herself as she tried to evade people, animals, and luggage. Once inside the station itself she found a seat and settled down to wait amid the heat and dust, smell and noise.

   Determined to get all this done and over with Dannie searched out the station master.

   "Good afternoon, sir, my name is Danielle Preston, I am to be met by Justice Grant Lawrence, has he enquired about me? "

   "Grant Lawrence? The Judge?" The station master, an older gentleman with grey hair and beard shook his head. "Shucks, Ma'am, Mr. Lawrence is dead."

   Dannie's eyes widened and her mind went blank. For a few seconds all she could do was stare at the station master, her tongue frozen from the shock of his words. "Dead." She finally managed to stutter out. "But...but how? I had a letter from him less than a fortnight ago."

   "Don't know what a fortnight is, Miss, but Justice Lawrence was killed 'bout five days ago. Shot dead right in his office. Bullet through the head. Killed him clean."

   That was a little more detail than Dannie desired for and she grimaced as the images flashed through her mind. Everything Margaret had told her about the wild ways of the West came flooding back.

   "What about his wife and daughter?"

   "They went back east to stay with her folks. Took the morning train yesterday. Ain't easy for a woman out here on her own, and she don't got no family to help her out. Who was you in relation to them?"