A Runaway Bride for the Orphans’ Guardian (Preview)

Chapter One

New York – 1872
Fall

For years, Alice Kuiper had dreamed of living a different life. Even though she knew she was lucky to have been born into a world of privilege and wealth, she increasingly felt stifled by the rules and requirements that came with being a part of high society. As she prepared for a dinner party her mother was hosting, she had no idea that her chance to escape would come that very night.

She was in her room, about to get changed, when there was a knock on the door, and her mother came in.

“Alice? Why aren’t you dressed yet?”

Her mother’s expression was tight and disapproving, as usual.

Alice had snuck out of the house during the afternoon to spend time helping at a women’s shelter, an activity her mother disapproved of greatly. She had only just come back to her room via the servant’s staircase.

“I…wasn’t feeling well,” Alice said, trying to think up an excuse.

In the looking glass across the room, she could see that her cheeks were flushed from rushing up the stairs.

Fortunately, her mother was distracted by the dress she had laid out on the bed.

“Is that what you are wearing?”

Alice had plucked out the first dress she had seen, barely looking at it.

“No, no, no …” Marja Kuiper said in an authoritative voice. “You will wear the blue silk taffeta. It will go well with your eyes.”

The maid came in then with hair ribbons that had been freshly pressed and matched the blue silk dress.

“Do her hair up a bit more in the new fashion, the braids? Mr. Van Der Berg has recently been to Paris. I don’t want him thinking we are behind the times.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Alice sighed inwardly. Her mother had been introducing her to potential suitors for years. She had successfully been able to resist her attempts by talking to her father, but she knew her time was running out. At the age of twenty, she was considered to be getting a bit old, which diminished her suitability. Her sister, Ethel, had married years ago, with a very advantageous match, and Alice knew her mother was anxious that she should be settled too.

But Alice was not like Ethel.

She didn’t have her sister’s slender frame or her traditional beauty, nor her interest in socializing with other society ladies. And while she did not like disappointing her mother, she could not help but to long for a more meaningful life. She wanted to marry for love, and not her status in society. She didn’t want to fill her days with tea parties and gossip when she could be helping the poor and the needy. She thought of how only a few hours ago, she had been folding laundry for women who had no shelter and who were grateful to have a roof over their heads. It made Alice feel like she was useful. But she knew her mother thought a young society lady should not be seen in the unsavory quarters of the city, associating with what she saw as beggars and lepers.

Alice went to dinner, walking carefully down the stairs. The house was still grand and impressive, but under close scrutiny, it was evident that times may have become tough. There were bare marks on some walls where paintings used to hang, and some of the carpets were scuffed and needed replacing.

Alice could hear voices coming from the drawing room.

When she entered the room, she could see her sister, Ethel, and her husband, John, standing near the ornate fireplace. All the lamps were lit, and the room was the very picture of nineteenth century elegance and refinement. Ethel was looking very pretty, Alice thought, in a dark burgundy dress with a décolleté neckline. When Alice commented on it, Ethel said, “John had it shipped in from Paris. It is the latest fashion there. You don’t think it is too risqué?” She slipped a hand to her chest.

“Not at all!” Alice protested. “Besides, mother would tell you very quickly, don’t you think?”

The sisters laughed, and Alice was pleased that her sister had joined them for dinner. Even though there were five years between them, they had always been close. It was a different story with their oldest brother, Bernhard Jr., who had a reputation for drinking and gambling.

“Mr. Felix Van Der Berg,” the butler announced, and they turned to meet the new arrival.

He certainly was tall and handsome, Alice thought, but there was an arrogance to the way he held his head and surveyed the room.

“Good to see you, young man,” Mr. Kuiper said, going to shake his hand. “May I introduce my daughters?”

Alice nodded her head and smiled demurely. She felt Mr. Van Der Berg’s eyes burning into her skin.

“Perhaps Alice could play something for us later,” her mother offered, pointing to the piano. “She has been practicing so much lately.”
Ethel nudged Alice with her elbow. She knew that Alice pretended to go to extra lessons when she was doing her charitable work.

“That would be delightful,” Mr. Van der Berg said.
When they went into the dining room, Ethel whispered in her ear, “You could do worse than Mr. Van Der Berg.”

But Alice was not so sure.

At dinner, the conversation was about Mr. Van der Berg’s recent travels to Europe, and he regaled them with stories of his experiences in Paris and London.

“I must say, I did not much care for the company in London,” he remarked, looking directly at Alice. “I found them rather dull, to be honest.”

“Oh, surely not,” Ethel protested. “I have heard the young ladies in London are full of wit and cheer.”

“I assure you, they do not compare to our young ladies right here,” he said. He was still looking at Alice, and she kept her eyes lowered.

“Our Alice is hardly boring, wouldn’t you say, Mr. Kuiper?” her mother suddenly remarked, prompting her father to mumble something.

All eyes turned to Alice, but she looked down, and despite the beautifully laid-out table filled with dishes of succulent roast beef and roasted potatoes, she found herself with no appetite.

She couldn’t wait for the evening to be over, and when Mr. Van Der Berg finally took his leave, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“That went well, didn’t it?” Mrs. Kuiper said, delightedly, clapping her hands.

“Oh, indeed,” Mr. Kuiper said, pulling Alice aside.

“Mr. Van Der Berg is very interested in you, my dear,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Alice asked.

“He has expressed interest in marrying you,” her father said with a smile.

The words shocked Alice. “I beg your pardon?”

Her father chuckled. “He told me just now, after dinner. He is looking for a wife from a good family, and he very much enjoyed our dinner. He asked if he might call on you sometime this week for tea.”

“Oh, most certainly!” Mrs. Kuiper immediately said. “Did he say when? Maybe Wednesday or perhaps Thursday?”

Mr. Kuiper laughed at his wife’s enthusiasm.

But Alice had gone very quiet.

“Are you all right, Alice?” Ethel suddenly asked. She was the only one who noticed how pale her sister had gone.

“I don’t want to marry him!” Alice suddenly blurted out.

Everyone stared at her.

“What do you mean?” her mother snapped. “You should consider yourself fortunate that a man like Felix Van Der Berg shows any interest in you at all! He is one of the most eligible bachelors in town! He has a fortune of his own and is looking for a match to settle his standing in society.”

“But I don’t even like him!” Alice protested, close to tears.

“Now, now,” Mr. Kuiper said, trying to smooth things over. “You hardly know the man. I find him most agreeable.”

Alice gave another step back. She felt like she couldn’t breathe.

Mrs. Kuiper said quietly but firmly, “You don’t have much of a choice in this matter, Alice. Don’t you understand that you will be doing this for the family as much as for yourself?” She then added in a gentler voice, “You will learn to like him, in time.”

Alice got up and ran out of the room.

She could not bear it any longer. It was clear to her that her wishes did not matter at all. She threw herself onto her bed and burst into tears. A few minutes later, her sister came into the room and sat down next to her.

“Oh, Alice, please don’t cry.”

Alice sat up, her cheeks wet. “Did you know about this?”

She shook her head. “I knew mother was saying you needed to get married soon. She says you have been spending too much time with your piano.”

It was an attempt at making Alice smile, but it didn’t work.

“Do you think they’ll make me do it? Marry him?”

“Would that be so terrible? He is a fine-looking fellow, and he has means,” Ethel said.

But Alice had seen a cold, calculating glint in his eyes. He had not made a good impression on her at all.

“It’s not all about money, Ethel.”
“It is for us, Alice.”

She turned to face her sister. “Our family is on the verge of financial ruin. Mother told me about it only recently. Our brother has racked up terrible debts, and then he invested a big chunk of Father’s money in some railway scheme that turned out to be fraudulent. Father needs money if they are to keep this house.”

Alice was shocked. “Mother will die before she leaves the house.”

“So you see why she was keen to impress Mr. Van der Berg.”

“But I can’t marry him,” Alice said, this time, with more certainty in her voice. “What will I do?”

The sisters talked about her options, but there weren’t many. She could ask the pastor for help, but the Church would not act against her family.

“There is another option,” Alice said. She went and fetched the envelope she had hidden in her Bible.

“What’s this?” Ethel asked.

Alice had told no one of that, but a few weeks ago, she had seen an advertisement in a newspaper for a teacher at a children’s home in Colorado. The position had immediately appealed to her, and on a whim, she had answered it. The response had come a few days ago, and she had been offered the position.

“I just wanted to see if they would accept me. I didn’t think of actually going! But now, I’m thinking, I must,” Alice said tearfully.

Ethel looked at the letter. “Who is Lila Singer?”

Alice remembered that she had used another name when she applied for the job. “I didn’t want anyone knowing that I was applying for the position.” She admitted, “I had it delivered to the post office.”

Ethel appeared shocked. “You really thought about it, didn’t you? Well, that makes it much easier, in a way. If you have a different name, it will be harder for them to find you. But you do realize, you will have to become this Lila Singer if you take the position. You will have to leave Alice Kuiper behind.”

Alice was silent. “I suppose so…I dare say I hadn’t thought that far…But now…I can’t imagine marrying a man like Mr. Van Der Berg and giving up on working with the children.”

“He definitely won’t allow that,” Ethel said solemnly. “He wants to rise in high society, not mix with the poor.”

“But what about Papa and Mama?” Alice cried. “Will I be leaving them in the most dreadful lurch if I don’t marry him?”

Ethel smiled tenderly at Alice. “This is your life, Alice. Why should you pay for our brother’s mistakes?”

Alice knew she was right.

She would have to become Lila Singer and go to Colorado.

That night, she packed a bag and took a carriage to her sister’s house, where Ethel gave her all the money and valuables she could find. Then she made her way to Grand Central Station to book a train to go West. She had no idea how to get to Colorado, or how many days it might take.

The train station, housed in a grand new building, towered over her. Even though it was very early in the morning, people were already waiting for the ticket office to open. Families huddled on benches, and babies were crying. It seemed like many people couldn’t wait to leave New York.

Alice was feeling rather overwhelmed. She had never been anywhere by herself before. She didn’t know the first thing about traveling alone. But she saw a young woman, not unlike herself, dressed in fine clothes and waiting with a small bag at her feet. Who knew where she was going?

Suddenly, she thought of her own journey and the new sights she’d be seeing. Adventure was coming her way; she could feel it.

She thought of her sister and the warm embrace she had given her as they said their goodbyes in the cold air of the New York night.

“Write to me once you have arrived. Let me know you are safe.”

Loud noises were coming from the tracks, trains perhaps preparing for departure.

For the first time, she started to feel excited. She had no idea what the future held for her, but she couldn’t wait to find out.

Chapter Two

Colorado Territory – 1872
Fall

Ebenezer Pennant, or Penn, as he was widely known, liked to get up early to ride around the property before the day began. He told others it was to ensure all was safe and well, but the truth was he liked the hush before dawn, the way the land held its breath before the sun broke over the fields. In that quiet, he felt closest to God.

Although he was only twenty-six years old, Penn had already seen a good share of the world and the way men behaved toward their fellow man. He had found his calling, looking after orphaned children, although he could never quite fathom the cruel fate that had befallen so many of them. He often thought of Matthew 19:14, where Jesus said, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for such is the kingdom of heaven.”

That was what he wanted to do.

To give orphaned children a loving home, to see the glory of God and the bounty that was in it, and to give them a fighting chance of making something of themselves. He had been an orphan himself and knew quite a bit about the hardship that came with that particular station in life.

He rubbed Bessy’s nose. “Come now, girl.” The mare snorted and shook her head, unwilling to leave the warm barn.

The mornings were becoming increasingly cold, and winter was not far off. That was concerning to Penn, who was working on building a dormitory for the boys, which had to be completed before the snow came. But the cost of the build had been more than he had anticipated, and time was running out.

He finished saddling Bessy and muttered words of encouragement before swinging himself into the saddle and grabbing the reins. He hadn’t been much of a rider before he came out West, but he had gotten the hang of it quickly. He loved being outdoors, taking in the wide views, and the grassy plains, and the nearby mountains. This was nothing like the place where he had grown up, which was in the city of New York, far toward the East.

As he galloped toward the fence, the sun rose and bathed the field in a warm, golden light. The children’s home was right outside the town of Hope Springs; it was within walking distance, although they usually took the wagon for town visits. Although it was a new town, it was growing, too, just like the children’s home, which he ran in the old farmhouse behind him. There were saloons, a general store, a hotel, and a blacksmith, as well as a post office and a sheriff who was stern but fair.

Penn rode along the perimeter of the property, coming up the driveway of the children’s home in time to see Miss Nancy, the cook and housekeeper, leaving the henhouse.

“Good morning,” he said, noticing straight away that she was not her usual cheerful self. “Everything all right?”

“No! It most certainly isn’t!” Her face was cross, and she shook her head, trying to contain her fury.

“Whatever is the matter?” he asked.

“That little…little…beast!”

“Who?”

He finally got it out of her. One of the children, a boy called Gil, had left the door of the henhouse open, and a fox had gotten in overnight, wreaking havoc. When she arrived to collect the eggs in the morning, most of the chickens had gotten out, and there were feathers everywhere.

“Most of the eggs have been trampled and ruined, and I am missing two of my best layers!”

Penn could see she was terribly upset.

“I’ll talk to him, I promise,” he said, smiling at Nancy. “The boy didn’t mean any harm, I’m sure.”

She shook her head and gave a sigh.

“I know, I know…it’s just, the eggs are so dear, and I wanted to use them for breakfast today.”

“We’ll have porridge instead. What do you think?”

He knew she never stayed angry for long. But it was challenging sometimes with the children, especially if they were strong-willed or mischievous like Gil. He was always getting up to all sorts of things, pulling pranks on the others, which often went awry. But it was hard for Penn to scold the boy who, like the others, had been through so much. He couldn’t help thinking that the boy felt safe enough at the Hope Springs Children’s Home to get up to some hijinks, and surely that was not a bad thing?

At the back of the farmhouse, two rooms served as his quarters and office. He went through the mail that had been collected at the post office the previous day.

One of the envelopes was addressed to him, personally.

The sender was an old friend who lived in New York.

With his heart racing, he opened the letter. His friend was writing to warn him about a newspaper article about Penn and his time running an orphanage in the city. He didn’t even read the newspaper clipping, which had been included in the letter, choosing to crumple it up instead.

“Bad news?” Miss Nancy asked as she came in with his coffee and some bread for his breakfast.

Penn smiled quickly. “Just news from an old friend.”

“All good, I hope?”

He reassured her all was well, not letting on how much the letter had upset him. If news of the New York scandal reached Hope Springs, the tide could turn against him here, too. The children’s home was currently running on a large donation from the Rocky Mountain District of the Methodist Episcopal Church. But the church elders would not look kindly on rumors like these.

He gulped down his coffee, welcoming the warmth and bitter kick.

“Oh, and Gil is here to see you,” Miss Nancy said.

Penn thanked her, and the boy came into his room, shuffling his feet, his head hung low.

“Now, Gil,” Penn said in a stern voice. “What’s this I heard about the henhouse?

“I was only in there last night,” the boy mumbled. “To feed the chickens, but when I tried to lock the door, the latch kept sticking, and so I came looking for someone to help me…but then…then…I guess I forgot. Joany called me to look at the kittens, and they were mighty cute, and we were going to get them some milk from the kitchen, but there wasn’t any, so we fetched them some water…and…I am really sorry, sir. I really am! I will help Miss Nancy to find all the missing chickens.”

“Yes, you will,” Penn said in a softer tone.

The poor boy clearly regretted his actions, and perhaps one of the older children should have been sent to feed the chickens.

“Now go get some breakfast and tell Miss Nancy that you are sorry.”
“Yes, Sir,” he obediently said.

Penn was finally able to smile. Poor Gil, with his scabby knees and his unruly hair, was a lively child with too much energy. It needed to be contained in a structured way, or he got up to no good. But he wasn’t a bad child; his heart was good, and Penn could see that he felt terrible about the chickens that had gotten lost.

After breakfast, he set out to do some more work on the building of the dormitories. There simply was not enough time in the day for all the things that needed doing. He ideally needed extra hands to manage his job, but there was no money to pay a hired man. He needed to do at least an hour of reading with the children, another task he was not particularly good at. But he was hoping a teacher would arrive soon to help him.

Fortunately, he had received an application from a woman in New York City, and she had made a very good impression on him. He had offered her the position and hoped she would take it.

By lunchtime, he was ready for a break, but two of the smaller children needed extra help with their letters. The older children had gone out to do chores, when Penn heard the dog barking outside. A short while later, the sheriff arrived. He went outside to greet him.

“Sheriff Marlow! What can I do for you?”

The sheriff got off his horse and shook Penn’s hand. Jim Marlow’s manner was somewhat gruff, but Penn knew the man had his hands full.

“I have some children coming your way, if you have space for them?”

“More children?” Penn looked over his shoulder as he tried to imagine finding extra beds. There were twenty children at the home, and he had no beds to spare. But he could not bear the thought of turning children away.

The sheriff coughed. “Bad business up in Chicago, the orphanage there is overflowing, they are sending five more children down here.”

“Five more?” In his head, he was calculating how he would feed five extra mouths.

“People are going to be callin’ this the Orphan Town,” the sheriff grumbled. “Pretty soon we’ll have more orphans than townspeople living here.”

There were not many orphanages in the West, and Penn’s children’s home was one of the few in the region.

Penn nodded. “I’ll make room. Fortunately, there is a new teacher arriving soon. She’ll help look after them. But we’re doing all right.”

“Uh-huh,” the sheriff said, not sounding convinced.

Penn knew he was thinking about the two teenaged boys who’d run away from the children’s home last summer, stealing horses and robbing folks in a neighboring town before finally being arrested for theft. Penn had been sorry to hear about what happened to them, but as hard as it was to accept that, he knew he could not save every child.

“Horace and Gregory could not see the light of the Lord,” Penn said, with sadness in his voice. “But their eyes had been closed to His Goodness before they’d even come here. We tried to help them, but it was too late. How old are these children?”

“I have no idea,” the sheriff grumbled. “All I was told was that matters were dire before they decided to send them here. Who knows what state they’ll be in? I will collect them from the train station and bring them out here this afternoon?”

“We will welcome them with open arms,” Penn said resolutely.

***

He spent the next few hours making makeshift beds from hay and empty sacking and clearing space in the classroom for temporary sleeping quarters. He had to find firewood and chop some logs for the stove. He thought about the boys’ dormitory he was trying to build and knew he needed to focus all his efforts on that now. The home needed more space.

When the children arrived later, they stood in a bedraggled group looking miserable and scared. With Nancy’s help, they boiled water for their baths, and he had to shave the boys’ heads as they all had lice. They tried to cheer the newcomers up with tales of life on the farm, and he decided on the spot that he would take the boys trout fishing the next day.

By the time Penn was finally able to turn in for the night, he was too tired to pull off his boots. He hoped the teacher would arrive soon to help lighten his load. Sleep took him fast, but not deep.

Somewhere in the dark, the fear of his past stirred and waited.