Herding the Hellions Read online

  Herding the Hellions

  Bride Herder #5

  Danni Roan

  Copyright © 2019 by Danni Roan All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. FIRST EDITION https://authordanniroan.com

  Contents

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  “Don’t worry Father, we’ll figure out something,” Helena Hebert said, kneeling before her father where he sat in his favorite armchair.

  “I thought I could go on a little longer,” Henry said squeezing his forehead between gnarled fingers. “I can’t seem to lift anything and hold it anymore.”

  Helena placed her hands gently on her father’s knees patting them as one would comfort a small child. “You’ve done everything you could,” she said. “We’ll sell the house, and that will give us some money, at least for a while.”

  “But where will we live?” Henry asked, “and what about my books?” he looked up at the shelves heavily laden with colorful books, their warn spines neatly ordered by size.

  “I don’t know,” Helena admitted. “We’ll figure out something.” Standing, the young woman bit her lip, turning away from her father, so he wouldn’t see the worry on her face. Her father had been struggling to hold onto his job at the depot for months now, and things had finally ended badly for him.

  His joints were freezing up a little at a time, and Helena knew the constant pain he endured in every knuckle was far worse than he liked to admit.

  Their life in Ohio had been fairly comfortable over the years in their little house with the big bookshelves and comfortable furnishings. They didn’t have much but they had enough.

  Helena’s mother had always been a practical woman and had outfitted the home to be easily maintained on Henry’s income. When she had passed on a handful of years earlier, it had been the most natural thing in the world for Helena to take over the management of the money and the house.

  Walking around the small parlor touching the spines of her favorite books, Helena worried the problem of how they would live without the income from her father’s job.

  It would take a major change in their circumstances for them to keep body and soul together. Even with the house paid, there would be little to provide for food and other necessities.

  “I’m going to the post office,” Helena said, turning to look at her father who was already deep into one of his favorite books. “I’ll be back to get our supper, and then we’ll figure out what to do.” She smiled when he waved absently at her. It had always been this way. Her father loved books. Sometimes she wondered if she wasn’t there to remind him to eat if he would ever pull his nose out of one of his precious tomes.

  Taking her gloves and hat from a stand by the door, Helen stepped out into the cool air of the spring day and headed down the street.

  It seemed that everyday their little town was growing. She nodded to a family walking along the street and smiled at neighbors carrying items from a nearby store.

  Pushing the door open to the small post office a few moments later, Helena looked up to smile at Mrs. Makes who was busy straightening a stack of envelopes.

  “Hello, Helena,” Mrs. Makes said, her dark eyes sparkling. “In to get the mail?”

  “Yes, if we have any,” Helena replied.

  “I think your father has another book,” Mrs. Makes said with a titter. “I’m sure that will be a surprise to both of you.”

  Helena grinned. “Perhaps not a surprise, but a welcome respite from worries.”

  “Oh my,” Mrs. Makes said. “I heard your Pa lost his job. What will you do?” the older woman asked kindly.

  “I really don’t know,” Helena said, struggling to keep the worry from her voice as her dark eyes scanned the package the postmistress handed her. “I’m sure we’ll figure out something.”

  The door opened again and both women turned to see a heavyset man in his late fifties enter. “Good afternoon ladies,” he said offering an oily grin. “Having a hen party are we?” he chuckled and the sound grated on Helena’s nerves like fingernails on a chalk board.

  “Hello, Mr. Gigger,” Mrs. Makes said. “I’ll just fetch your mail.”

  “Don’t you look lovely my dear?” Mr. Gigger said stepping up to Helena and taking her hand. “I heard the unfortunate news about your father’s job,” he said not looking sorry at all as he kissed her hand.

  “Thank you,” Helena said lifting her chin and stepping back a pace until her back pressed against the counter.

  “You know my dear, if you would consent to marry me, all your troubles could disappear,” he said reaching for her hand once more. “I’m a very lonely man since my dear wife passed last year. It’s time I find another good woman to run my household and warm my bed,” he finished his vulpine smile making Helena’s stomach churn.

  “Here you are,” Mrs. Makes said stepping back into the room and waving a packet of envelopes under the man’s nose. “I’m sure you’ll want to look at these right away,” she continued. “They look very important.”

  Mr. Gigger took the letters from the postmistress’s hand with a flick of his wrist stepping back and bowing as much as his rotund belly would allow. “Think about what I said,” he grinned, his eyes lingering on Helena’s slim form and fine figure.

  Mrs. Makes shook her head, her lips pursed in disgust. “That man is old enough to be your father, and has already buried three wives,” she growled. “He should learn to leave decent young woman alone and get on with himself.”

  Helena turned shocked at Mrs. Makes blunt words, though they echoed her own thoughts. The older man had been making advances toward her for some time now, and had twice tried to convince her she should marry him. Even the thought of the odious man made Helena’s stomach roil.

  “I think you’d better take this,” Mrs. Makes said holding out a small packet, her eyes still lingering on the recently closed door.

  “What is it?” Helena asked taking the fine paper from the other woman’s hands.

  “I have an acquaintance out west,” Mrs. Makes said turning back to face Helena. “She’s a matchmaker and could prove the only escape you have available to you if you want to avoid that horrid man.”

  Helena’s eyes grew wide, but she smiled at Mrs. Makes’ words. It seemed that the postmistress had the same opinion of the man as she did.

  “Thank you,” she said offering Mrs. Makes a smile. “I’m sure it won’t come to this though,” she added waving the packet. “Have a good day.”

  Chapter 1

  Helena leaned her head against the window and gazed out at the quickly passing scenery. She couldn’t believe that her life had actually come to this, but here she was sitting amidst a group of other women on a train bound for Bent, Colorado to meet a Matchmaker who was certain she had the perfect match for her.

  “Are you worrying about your father?” Violet, a smart good natured woman who had been corresponding with Miss Vi
ola and assured everyone that this excursion would work out perfectly, asked.

  “No, well not really,” Helena said with a smile. “He was so pleased to be able to stay with his friends in Kansas. “ He’ll only be there a week, and it isn’t very far to Bent on the train. I’m sure he’ll be all right.”

  Violet nodded understanding that they were all a little on edge as they quickly approached their ultimate destination. “Well, we’re almost to Bent now,” she offered, patting Helena’s arm, “and I’m sure that once we get there Miss Viola will have us all happily married in no time.” The young woman with the dark eyes and russet hair smiled from under her enormous hat as if she knew something that no one else did.

  “I hope so,” Helena said. “I want my father settled and comfortable as soon as possible. He’s not so young anymore, and I want him to be able to sit peacefully by a warm fire reading to his heart’s content.”

  “Was it difficult getting Viola to agree for your father to come with you?” Violet asked. She’d had a lovely few days chatting with Mr. Hebert and looked forward to having him and Helena as neighbors in the burgeoning town of Bent.

  “No, she didn’t seem to think it would be a problem at all,” Helena replied. “Father is very easy to be around as long as he can have his books.”

  Violet smiled again. “Well then, we’ll just get you settled in and find that perfect Mr. Right. Then you won’t have to worry anymore.”

  Helena nodded as Violet rose to go and check on the other women who were chatting nervously about what came next. Violet had been such a wealth of information and help on the journey, gathering everyone together and putting them at ease.

  Helena was thankful she wasn’t alone in this desperate plan to secure a happy home for herself and her father. Whatever the future held she was sure it couldn’t be worse than what she had just left behind.

  “What do you mean she’s gone?” Helena cried over the voices of the other women as a blonde cowboy in a dusty shirt met them at the Bent train station a short two hours later. “She can’t be dead; I have nowhere else to go.”

  It was obvious that the cowboy who had introduced himself as Chance Redburn, Miss Viola’s nephew, was trying to listen to everyone at once, but was unprepared for their arrival.

  This simply couldn’t be happening. Helena had traveled all this way, to marry and settle her father in a new home only to discover that the woman who had promised her the perfect match had died leaving everything to this unprepared cow hand.

  Tears threatened as Helena struggled to catch her breath. What could she do next? Her father was counting on her.

  “Don’t panic,” Jasmine, a young woman from Colorado said grabbing Helena’s arm. “I’m sure everything will be fine. From everything I know about Miss Viola, she had a wonderful system for matching people to the right match. I’m sure her nephew will work it all out.”

  Helena nodded realizing with an icy chill that she had no choice but to go along with the man’s plans as he helped them into the flat bed of a wagon. He hadn’t even been aware of the fact that they were coming, and now, here they were all ten of them with no home, no husbands, and almost no hope.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t know you ladies were arriving tonight. I promise the house is warmer than it is out here.” Mr. Redburn was saying to Violet as he helped her into the wagon.

  Hadn’t Violet said that Miss Viola had told her she wanted her to help with the business as well? Helena wondered. If so, surely the competent former teacher would work everything out. Helena’s breathing returned to normal as the other women peppered Mr. Redburn with questions on the short drive to the house.

  She was suddenly so tired and so cold. Helena wanted nothing more than to wash her face and climb into a nice warm bed. She would worry about the rest of her life when a new day had dawned.

  Mr. Redburn helped all of the brides-to-be out of the wagon once more as they came to a stop in front of a two story home. It was late and the day had been fraught with worry and surprise.

  Entering the house with the others, Helena looked around her only to hear Adeline yawn loudly and the others follow suit. The contagious action swept through the group like wildfire over a prairie and none were spared.

  Helena covered her mouth with a gloved hand and blinked around her as anxious voices filled the space with a deafening babble.

  “AHHHH!” The sound snapped everyone to a silent attention and they gaped at the usually silent Myrakle. “Can you show us the way to our rooms?” the deaf woman asked calmly addressing Mr. Redburn.

  Chance smiled and nodded slightly at the woman. “Certainly.” He turned to the door at the other end of the parlor and opened it leading to a hallway and staircase.

  “This way ladies,” he pointed up the stairs “There are five bedrooms and ten of you. So I suggest you work out who bunks with whom.”

  Jasmine and Myrakle grabbed each end of a trunk and started toward the stairs. Chance leapt in front of them. “I’ll get your bags upstairs. You ladies go pick your rooms.”

  Helena smiled slightly, a sense of giddy wonder filling her at the whole mess. She was just grateful that her father had decided to stop in Kansas to visit his friends. He didn’t need to worry about this craziness.

  Looking around her, Helena noticed the other woman choosing a roommate and only barely repressed a giggle when Violet invited the young schoolteacher Cina to bunk with the ‘old maid school teacher’. If Violet was an old maid then Helena wasn’t far behind. At twenty-three, she was a bit older than some of the others, but had never really given the matter much thought.

  She had been content with her life, looking after her father and tending the house. She had been in complete control of her own life and home for years now, and she prayed that whomever she matched would let her carry on in the same way.

  Pulling her mind to the moment, Helena noted Espéranza gazing about her at the large house. “Would you be all right sharing with me?” Helena asked as the other girls paired off heading upstairs to find a room.

  Chapter 2

  “Agi, Agi!” Joseph Penella called trotting into the sawmill the next afternoon. “Did you hear,” the younger man’s voice was animated and his skin flushed.

  “Hear what?” Augusta Pennington growled over the whine of the saw blade as he backed it off the end of the log and started shutting down the engine. “What are you on about Joe? I don’t have time for guessing games.”

  “The brides!” the young man gushed. “The brides Miss Viola sent for have arrived. I just met them at the train station last night and helped Chance get their gear to the house.”

  Agi stood up brushing the unruly lock of pitch black hair from his eyes. “You don’t say?” he mused brushing sawdust from his shirt. “I was starting to think with Viola gone we’d be out of luck.”

  Joseph shook his head. “Nope, they’re here and Chance has herded them all to Viola’s house. He said he wanted us to drop by this afternoon.” Augusta nodded, his eyes growing distant. He’d lost his eighth housekeeper so far just this week, and to be honest, she had been little use. The house never seemed to get put in any order, and his three boys were just as unruly and fractious as ever.

  “I’ll have to drop by sometime and make sure that Chance knows I put in an order with Viola. I need a wife to cook and clean and look out for the boys. I won’t be able to get there until this evening.” Agi said. “I’m looking forward to a wife to tend the home you see.”

  Joseph looked at Agi oddly for a moment. The young man probably had a head full of ideas of romance, love, and happily ever after, but Augusta knew that life didn’t always pan out the way you hope.

  “I’m just closing up shop now for lunch” he said slapping Joseph on the back. “I’ll stop in to see Chance on the way home tonight. Thanks for letting me know Joe.”

  Joseph grinned accepting Agi at his word. “There are some fine looking women in the bunch,” he said stuffing his hands in his pocket as a dreamy expre
ssion covered his face. “I’m sure you’ll find the perfect match,” he finished turning and wondering back toward town.

  Agi Pennington shook his head. He didn’t need romance, love, or even a happy marriage. He needed a woman who would look after his brood of rambunctious boys, cook, clean, and mend. After a few years in the gold fields and a good bit of luck, Augusta had managed to walk away with a hefty wad of seed money.

  He had returned home to marry his sweetheart then moved to Colorado where his skills as a lumberman and sawyer were needed. Soon, at only twenty-nine he’d found himself with a booming business, three boys, and a dead wife.