Mary Bridgette Read online

  Danni Roan

  Mary Bridgette

  Book One: Generations of The Cattleman’s Daughters

  Danni Roan

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  April 1917,

  “I’ve already signed the papers Mama. I have to go,” Mary Bridgette looked up at her mother her eyes sad but her jaw set.

  “I don’t understand why you want to go honey. I know you have a big heart, but you can help right here at home,” Katrion James-Robertson said folding her hands in front of her to keep them from fidgeting. Her whole life had been the ranch and her family, it was hard to fathom her daughters need to go.

  Mary reached out laying her hands over her mother’s as they stood in the kitchen. “I know you don’t understand Mama, but it’s something I have to do. People are dying every day, men who need care that I can offer.” Her dark eyes pleaded with her mother to understand her calling. “They need me to help remind them of what they’re fighting for back home.”

  “You know this might break your father’s heart,” Katie said forcing back the tears. “He’ll worry.”

  Mary smiled, both of her parents would worry, not just her father, and she knew it.

  Katie pulled her oldest daughter into her arms holding her tight. She’d seen the signs that her girl would soon want to leave, but she’d hoped it wouldn’t come so soon. Mary, her quiet steady Mary, had been such a joy to the family. She’d been a help and comfort as the patriarch of the family had grown steadily weaker, eventually leaving them all to press on into the unknown future without him.

  Mary had loved her grandpa Joshua and was often at his side caring for him, helping him or simply sitting and talking to him on long quiet days.

  It was no surprise to Katie when the soft hearted young woman had asked to join the Salvation Army and travel across the ocean to help with the cause. Once her cousin Eric had volunteered with the guard at Fort Russell there had been no turning back for Mary.

  The war across the water had somehow drawn Eric, his big heart and strong sense of justice calling him, even as he knew it meant leaving his wife and children behind. In his early thirties he didn’t need to go but something compelled him, just as it compelled Mary.

  Katie had had twenty-four years of her sweet daughter at home. Mary was almost the same age she had been when she met Will and her whole world had changed. If Katie’s own father had had the strength to help his little girl find love and follow her heart, how could Katie restrain Mary Bridgette?

  ***

  Leaving her mother, Mary stepped out onto the front porch of her parent’s home gazing across the freshly planted wheat fields on the other side of the stream.

  She loved the Broken J ranch. It was the only home she had ever known, and her roots were firmly set in the rich soil of the Wyoming prairie.

  Stepping down the stairs of the porch she made her way toward the big ranch house with the wide wraparound veranda.

  “Hey Mary, what are you doing?” her cousin Blake called as he carried another load of firewood onto the porch. He had already stacked rows of it along the wall within easy reach for their Nona; Italian grandmother.

  “I’m checking to see if anyone brought in the mail,” Mary said smiling at her younger cousin. The dark haired young man was whip thin and wiry at nearly seventeen, but strong just the same.

  “Are you still planning on shipping out with the Salvation Army bunch?” Blake asked. “Nona’s been mumbling on about it in Italian for days.”

  Mary smiled. “Nona is always grumbling about something,” she said. “I think she wouldn’t be Nona any other way.”

  “I think it sounds like a real adventure,” Blake continued walking up the stair and stacking the wood. “Just think of what’s going on over there. I’d sign up if I was old enough, well that and the fact Pa needs me to help with the horses he sells to the military.”

  Mary raised an eyebrow at her cousin. “You think it will be an adventure?”

  “Well it has to be, doesn’t it,” Blake said. “All those people from all over the world trying to stop the incursion. Why our men will come back covered in metals and honors.”

  Mary smiled sadly at the boy. As the only son of her Aunt Meg and Uncle Clay he’d been somewhat sheltered over the years. “It’s pretty bad over there,” she said. “I just want to bring what comfort I can to our men serving overseas.”

  “Are you afraid of traveling over all that water?” Blake asked a grin playing on his lips.

  “No,” Mary said. “I truly believe I’m supposed to go, so God will see me there safely, He knows my comings and goings.”

  Blake smiled. “You always were mighty trusting,” his dark amber eyes sparkled in the pale light of morning.

  “Go finish your work,” Mary grumbled waving him away. Blake was a bit of a jokester and had pulled more than one prank on Mary over the years. She had learned to be cautious where it came to her younger cousin.

  Mary turned the handle on the door and stepped into the kitchen. Even after all these years she could feel her grandfather’s presence in the house.

  So much of Joshua James had gone into the house and ranch and his touch was seen everywhere. Joshua and his friends had made something out of nothing way out in the Wyoming wilderness, pulling together through hardship and joy to create something that would last.

  “Mary!” a plump woman with a mop of snowy hair cried, throwing her hands in the air as Mary stepped into the warm kitchen.

  “Hello Nona,” Mary said letting the woman, who was grandmother to all, hug and kiss her. Mary didn’t know how Nona could always seem so strong at her age. Over the years she’d been present as one by one more stones were added to the small plot beneath the oaks as the family said good-bye to loved ones. She’d lost her own dear husband Isadoro and many years before that her only daughter, Alexis and Isabella’s mother.

  “What is Katie doing today?” Nona asked turning back to her work station. “I am making a favorite tonight for our supper, beef and noodles.” She smiled. “You like, yes?”

  “I like everything you make Nona,” Mary answered truthfully.

  “But you are still going?” the old woman’s dark eyes turned to the girl and the sorrow in them made Mary’s heart ache.

  “Yes, I’m still going,” the younger woman confessed. “It is something I have to do.”

  Nona hurried to her again taking her face in her hands and looking into Mary’s green eyes. “You will do good,” she said. “I know this is hard for you too, but you must do what is in your heart.” She tapped Mary’s chest leaving a residue of flour from her fingers on the younger woman’s shirt waist.

  “It must have been hard for you when you left Italy,” Mary said.

  “Yes, this is why even though I do not want you to go I understand.”

  Mary grabbed a dishtowel from a peg and wiped her face. Nona’s hands had left a fine layer of flour on her skin and she smiled at the familiar residue.

  “Has the mail come in?” Mary asked grabbing an apron from the wall when Nona shook her head. “What can I do to help then?” Mary asked.

 
; The next few hours she worked with her grandmother in the kitchen. Cooking had always come easily to Mary, and she loved to see others enjoying her baked goods, or simple meals.

  “I suppose you will have to cook over there,” Nona said as they shoved three pies into the oven.

  “We’ve been told to make cookies and fudge for the soldiers to try to help if they feel homesick.”

  “This is a good idea. Food is very important to happiness,” the old woman said. To Nona food equaled love.

  Ever since coming to the ranch so many years ago when her daughter married Joshua, Nona had managed the kitchen teaching each of the cattleman’s daughters how to cook and in turn teaching their daughters. It was her place and she would not easily give it up, though over the years she has shared it with a cantankerous chuck wagon cook named Billy, and a Chinese patriarch that everyone had called ye-ye.

  ***

  Will Robertson stood at the back door of the big ranch house watching his oldest daughter working with her grandmother, smiling as she laughed and joked with the old woman. Mary Bridgette wasn’t as tall as her mother, but she looked so like Katie in many ways, with her sun kissed brown locks and strong slim form.

  Mary was direct, practical, and hardworking, and felt a sense of responsibility for those around her, which was why she was doing what she was. He understood his daughters calling in his head, but his heart longed to keep her home and safe always.

  As he watched Mary moved easily about the kitchen lifting the heavier items for her grandmother and doing her part to get the evening meal ready. Most nights everyone at the Broken J ate at the worn tables in the long kitchen.

  Will hated the idea of his little girl traveling to war torn Europe, but he knew that if it was in her heart, she would have to do it. Somehow he and Katie would have to find a way to be strong for her when she left.

  Already so many changes had been wrought on the ranch as everyone did their part to support the cause. The Great War had pulled every nation into the turmoil and when President Wilson couldn’t put off the inevitable anymore American troops traveled to do their part to bring peace.

  Here at the ranch more wheat than ever before had been planted to provide flour and bread for the community or for export, and the cattle had been carefully culled to provide bully beef that could be preserved for the duration of the war. Preparation for the fall canning had been stepped up to an industrial level as they planted more rows of vegetables and worked to ensure maximum yield to be shared. Even his brother-in-law Clay’s stock of fine horses were quickly being diminished as the military called for more mounts.

  At the school on the road between the ranch and the town of Tipton Will knew his sister-in-law Alexis was getting the word out that every citizen could do their part. She and her twin sister Isabella organized a variety of meetings and cooperatives to provide for soldiers on the front lines, and the school children collected bits of metal and scrap to be shipped to munitions manufactures.

  In some ways the ranch had been fortunate when the draft had been called. Most of the men were older now and would not be called to fight, though some, like Eric, would volunteer anyway. For the most part the ranch had been tasked with providing supplies and remounts for the cause, not man power, and Will was thankful, especially when his eyes fell on young Blake busily chopping fire wood on the other side of the house. The boy was too young to fight in the mud and dirt of a foreign land.

  Still it broke Will’s heart to let his little girl go. He grinned reminding himself that Mary Bridgette, named for her two maternal grandmothers wasn’t so small anymore. She would turn twenty-four in the fall and he was thankful he had been able to have her at home as long as this.

  Plastering a smile on his face he laid his hand on the door preparing a cheery hello when all he really wanted to do was pull his little Mary into his arms and never let her go.

  “What you standing out here for?” Taylor Ogden asked stepping up next to Will and peering through the window of the back door. The short sandy haired man brushed the saw dust from his sleeves looking back at his brother-in-law, bewildered.

  “Just wool gathering,” Will said pushing the door open and letting Taylor walk in. “Where’s Bella today?” he asked thinking of the twin Taylor had married. Isabella and Alexis were two peas in a pod in many ways and yet so different. When they’d met the Ogden brothers from Pennsylvania, they had shown just how different they were with Bella marrying Taylor quickly while Alexis took a long time to ponder life as a married woman.

  “I think she and Lexi are staying at the school to collect items to ship over with the group leaving tomorrow.” Taylor’s eyes fell on Mary and he reached out a rough hand to pat Will on the shoulder in understanding.

  “Pa,” Mary said offering a bright smile and hurrying to give her father a peck on the cheek. She’d been doing that since she was a baby, and it warmed Will’s heart, especially today.

  “Is your mother coming over for dinner with your brother and sister or are we heading home?” Will asked.

  “Everyone eats here!” Nona said jabbing a finger in the direction of the floor. “Katie will come.”

  Mary Bridgette bit her lip trying not to laugh. How the old woman could have such energy at her age no one knew.

  “What time’s dinner?” Taylor asked winking at his niece as he already knew the answer.

  “We eat later tonight,” Nona admitted, waving her wooden spoon like a scepter, “Isabella and Alexis will be a bit late. They work too hard,” she finished with a shake of her head.

  Taylor nodded his agreement, but didn’t speak. He’d fought that battle with his wife long ago and wasn’t about to start again. Nona Bianca Leone was grandmother to all of the girls on the Broken J, but his wife Isabella and her twin Alexis were her own biological daughter’s children. Still no one could ever accuse Nona of playing favorites, you got equal amounts of love and discipline no matter who you were in the James family.

  Camilla, Nona and Issadoro’s only child, had married Joshua James after a wagon break down had brought them together. Her parents had been a founding part of the Ranch from the moment they’d rolled into the yard. Although Isadoro had passed away many years ago, his keen skills as a builder were admired throughout the homes that had been built for the cattleman’s daughters as they had wed and started their own families.

  The family had grown larger over the years even as they’d had to say good-bye to some of the original crew, and the Broken J was still a busy, vibrant ranch.

  “Pa, will you help me with my bag after supper?” Mary asked, bringing Will back to the harsh realities of time. “I’ll be heading out with Eric in the morning,” she finished offering him a gentle smile.

  Chapter 2

  Mary Bridgette gazed around the table at her noisy family. The roast beef and noodles had been passed around with a hearty serving of mashed potatoes, corn, and beans, and everyone was busy discussing the news of the day.

  Her father sat at the head of the table. As one of the older members of the ranch and the foreman for the cattle operation, he’d been tasked with that position and no one begrudged it, even if everyone still thought of it as grandpa Josh’s spot.

  Eric sat across the table from Mary chatting quietly with his wife Joan and their son Josh, while their other two boys sat at the far table with cousins who were close in age. Tomorrow both Mary and Eric would be loading up their few belongings and heading to Tipton to catch the train east.

  She still didn’t completely understand why Eric, at his age, had volunteered to join the artillery unit from Fort Russell, but he had his own reasons.

  Gazing around the table Mary wondered what it would be like to truly leave the ranch behind. She’d been to town plenty of times when the family traveled for supplies, or delivered a load of hand crafted furniture her uncle Hank, Eric’s father, had made, but this would be different.

  She smiled across at her large uncle who sat holding his wife Fiona’s hand under the t
able. They never seemed to grow tired of holding hands like that, and for a moment Mary wondered if she would ever find someone who would love her in that way. At her age she wondered if she were destined to live a solitary life in service, but soon put the thoughts aside.

  “Mary, are you almost ready to go?” Lilly, Fiona and Hank’s oldest daughter asked. Lilly was only a couple of years younger than Mary in age, her long dark curls straining at the pins that held it in place, just like her mother’s. She was such a clever helpful girl and worked hard at the school with Aunt Lexi.

  “I’ve got most of what I need, and I believe you and everyone else are sending such things as woolen socks and scarves. I understand it has been a cold and wet spring over there.”

  “Yes, today at the school Bella and Lexi collected items that other families have donated. Eric already loaded them into the wagon.”

  “I’m sure everyone’s generosity will be appreciated. From what our group leader said the weather in France is cold and wet. When we arrive, the gloves, socks and mufflers will be of great use to the soldiers.”

  “Aren’t you afraid?” Lilly whispered her bright blue eyes sparkling with interest.

  “Yes and no.” Mary confessed. “It is always frightening to try something new, and going so far from home will be difficult, but this is something I can do, so I will.”

  Lilly reached out and squeezed Mary’s hand. “We’ll all be praying for you,” she said. “Don’t doubt it.”

  “I’ll feel those prayers even on the front lines of France,” Mary agreed lifting her chin. “What about you, do you still plan on volunteering?”

  Lilly smiled sweetly. “No, with the new flyers coming out asking us to do our part at home, I think I’ll just help here on the ranch. We’ll be canning the garden in the fall and Blake has agreed to go berry picking with me throughout the summer, so we’ll have more things to add to the larder and share.”

  Mary Bridgette’s eyes sparkled. Lilly was one of the sweetest souls she had ever met. The younger girl was so like her mother Fiona in kindness.