Herding the Hellions Read online

  Agi wasn’t interested in love, he simply wanted someone to watch his sons while he worked. Hopefully Viola had found a woman that was exactly what he needed. Not some fluffy headed debutante or silly young girl with no notion of how to run a home, but a woman who could think rationally and keep her heart out of it.

  Shutting down the mill, the lean man brushed the sawdust from his sleeves as best he could, swept the debris from the floor and turned toward town. He would pick the boys up after he talked to Chance, but it chafed that the only way he’d been able to get anyone to watch his sons was to farm them out separately, and even then, most of the old biddies in town wanted Tim, the baby, and not the other two boys. At the rates he was paying for childcare, he would need to get the next shipments out fast.

  Shaking his head, Agi ran a hand absently through his hair, not even noticing the shower of wood flakes and sawdust that scattered from his inky locks like large snowflakes on a winter’s day and headed toward Viola’s home.

  Chapter 3

  A terrible clanging clatter made Helena start upright gasping as she woke from a sound sleep. She had tossed and turned the night before for what seemed like ages until finally falling into an exhausted sleep.

  As one of the older girls, Helena had felt she should help Violet sooth jangled nerves and by the time she had assured those around her that everything would be all right she felt more nervous and worried than ever. Her father would be arriving in just a few days, and she needed a place for him to call home.

  The sound of others rising and dressing made Helena hurry to get dressed and head for breakfast. If the man they had met the night before had been a cattle rancher as he said, it was more than likely that he was still on ranch time and not prepared to make allowances for a group of women who had only just arrived.

  Down stairs, the old cook, Mr. McGruder was glaring at several of the young women. Apparently, Alice had made a comment about his coffee, and she smiled watching Violet sip the appalling looking brew and grimace.

  Helena had to repress a giggle as Violet continued. “Ladies, let’s remember that Mister Redburn is new at this. I’m sure he’ll get everything sorted in the next few days. Until then let’s make the most of the situation.” She turned to the cook. “Mister McGruder if you’d show me to the kitchen perhaps I can show you how delicate ladies such as ourselves like our coffee made?”

  Helena fell in behind Violet impressed by her sense of diplomacy. The former school teacher had neatly deflected the issue of questioning the cook’s abilities.

  Together she and Violet took the cook to the kitchen where Helena found cream and sugar while Violet showed Mr. McGruder how coffee for ladies was made.

  If Helena had not been so desperate to secure a home for herself and her father, the whole situation could be rather funny. An obviously clueless team of men saddled with ten potential brides and no idea which direction was up.

  After a fortifying, if simple breakfast, Helena and the rest of the woman returned to their rooms to finish preparing for what would assuredly be an eventful day. However, before long, Violet was hurrying them all down to the parlor on Mr. Redburn’s request, only to discover that the man had an urgent need to go for supplies at the mercantile.

  Helena shook her head as she settled into the parlor with a book she had found. There was no point rushing about like a fliberty-jibit. For the moment she would find some repose in the works of Tennyson and deal with what came next once the erstwhile matchmaker cowboy returned.

  The sound of the cowboy returning had all of the women on edge again and soon they were all pouring outside to help unload the wagon full of supplies.

  To her delight as well as the other women the supplies included a range of scented soaps and other toiletry items that would make their time in the large elegantly decorated house more enjoyable. Helena couldn’t help but smile when she heard Violet speaking quietly to Mr. Redburn and the others began putting things away.

  Helena had no sooner finished organizing her own luggage than Violet called all of the women back down stairs to the parlor at Mr. Redburn’s request.

  The other girls hurried down the stairs chatting excitedly. Surely the man was going to reveal who each of them had been matched with and let them meet their potential grooms in short order. She didn’t expect what happened next at all.

  No sooner had all of the ladies she had traveled to Bent with assembled then Mr. Redburn arrived carrying a cup of coffee, large ledger, and a coil of knotted rope.

  Placing the coffee on an end table, he nodded at the woman asking them to stand, then scowled when the girls looked at Violet for guidance. The whole thing was very confusing and again Helena wondered if the man knew what he was doing. Still she stood in the line waiting too for instructions.

  When Mr. Redburn stepped up to Helena, she watched him closely then gasped as he grasped her chin between thumb and forefinger, forcing her mouth open and peering into her mouth as she coughed and gagged. Staggered Helena glared. “Mr. Redburn!” she shouted more than disturbed by his rough handling.

  As Helena glared, Violet slipped up behind the odious man and leaned over to gaze at the ledger he was marking in, completely ignoring Helena’s own annoyance.

  “What are you doing?” Helena finally demanded, but again he ignored her.

  “I’m writing down your information,” he finally replied. “It will help me match you to a compatible suitor.”

  “Mr. Redburn,” Helena tried again but before she could finish Alice interrupted.

  “Wait a minute! You don’t know who Miss Viola had us matched with?” Alice’s voice was confused and worried.

  Helena could see Violet trying to get the man’s attention as she tried to ease the other women’s fear. “She wouldn’t have had that information until she got to know you better, Miss Bowen.” Violet tried.

  Mr. Redburn cast Violet an unpleasant look and continued to speak. “I’m afraid my aunt took what information she had to her grave, along with her recipe for cat-head biscuits,” he said with a nervous chuckle.

  Helena gazed at the others seeing the expressions of near panic settling in.

  “Let Mr. Redburn speak,” Violet said and the other women folded their arms impatiently.

  Helena could see that this whole situation was rapidly deteriorating as questions raced through her head. Mr. Redburn had no idea what he was doing and instead of looking to Violet who was clearly trying to help he only glared at her again.

  Helena still disconcerted by his rough handling and his confession heard his next comment as he assured the others he had a plan, and that what he was doing was necessary to matching them well.

  As he turned back to Helena she scowled noting Violets expression of horror as Mr. Redburn opened his mouth. “Now, tell me,” he said. “How much do you weight?”

  The loud collective gasp from the others was like a rifle crack on a cold day to Helena’s ears that buzzed at the impertinent question practically making her head spin.

  In an instant Violet stood between Helena and Mr. Redburn creating a shield of protection for the rude, obnoxious man. Helena wasn’t sure, but she suspected that if she could have reached him, she might have punched him right in the nose.

  “Mr. Redburn,” Violet said. “a gentleman never asks a lady her weight. It isn’t polite.”

  Helena barely heard the man explaining to the others around Violet that he had a system and that he needed the information for when potential grooms arrived later that day. Suddenly it all snapped into place what Mr. Redburn was doing and her temper tipped past the boiling point with explosive force.

  “We are not cattle, Mr. Redburn,” she shouted stamping her foot in fury making the man sputter.

  “No of course not. But the principles are…”

  Helena blinked as Myrakle shoved in front of her capturing the reprehensible cowboy’s attention.

  “I already know who I want...” the girl said, her strange speech making her words lilting.<
br />
  Helena glared at the man, as her temper returned to a mere simmer while he explained that he had a match picked for Myrakle only to see him taken aback when Myrakle named Joseph Penella.

  From there the meeting disintegrated into tears and questions as Myrakle looked beyond disappointed as she explained that Mr. Penella had already dropped by and would return to speak to Mr. Redburn.

  The other ladies growing weary and discontent asked questions, but when all Mr. Redburn could say was that he had no information from his aunt and that he had a system if they would just give it a chance, the atmosphere grew even worse and several of the brides began to cry.

  Helena looked up over her tearful friends as fear clutched at her heart. She had believed that Miss Viola would be able to match her to a man who would provide for both her and her father. Now, she was faced with the reality that Mr. Redburn had no idea what to do to ensure her future.

  On the other side of the cowboy Violet met her eyes and nodded, as if she had realized the same thing. Perhaps if Violet could get through to the man everything would turn out all right in the end.

  Still pondering her predicament, Helena watched Mr. McGruder grab Mr. Redburn by the arm and drag him into the office leaving them alone in the parlor once more.

  Leaving Myrakle on her own, Helena nodded back at Violet and ushered the others back up to their rooms.

  Chapter 4

  “Everyone is so worried,” Espe said as they entered the room they shared. “I do not need a husband to be happy. I am sure everything will work out.”

  Helena pushed the harsh words she had for Mr. Redburn away as she headed for her trunk. She was still livid with the man and had no intention of meeting the men that afternoon. She would stay in and read until this evening’s dance.

  Moderating her voice Helena spoke again. “I’m not sure about that man’s methods,” she said choosing her words carefully, “but I know Violet was brought here to work as Miss Viola’s assistant, and I trust that she’ll find a way to set our matchmaker on the right course. The fact that he’s planned a get together for this evening, so that we can meet our potential matches gives me some hope.”

  Espe shrugged. “I’m not certain about Mr. Redburn, he seems to be confusing us with cattle instead of brides. I will not go to his meeting. I like Violet,” she finished, her accent harsh.

  Helena smiled. It was true, Violet had sought out each of them on the train, knowing where and when they would join the train and gathering them together. She had been kind to Helena’s father as well and had assured him that he didn’t need to worry about Helena while he visited his old friends in Kansas.

  Helena worried her lower lip thinking of her father. If Mr. Redburn truly couldn’t find a match for her and the others quickly perhaps she should have him stay in Kansas a little longer. She really wasn’t sure where he would stay if she hadn’t found a place for them. She would find a moment to speak to Violet about the situation later. She certainly would not have the conversation with the irritating cowboy.

  Pulling out her best dress Helena thought about the situation. She would wait until after the meeting then decide what to do. She was just working out the last wrinkles in her gown when Violet knocked.

  “Mr. Redburn wants everyone down stairs to meet the potential matches,” she said with a grin. “Aren’t you coming?”

  Helena sighed. She had little faith in the bride herder but decided that she would hide in the shadows to see how things went. “I’ll come down,” she finally said, “but I’m not going anywhere near Mr. Redburn. “I’ll wait and watch.”

  Violet nodded recognizing that Helena was still irritated with Chance. She couldn’t blame the woman after the treatment she had suffered. A slight smile tugged at the pretty woman’s face. Chance Redburn had a great deal to learn about women and she knew just the teacher to do it. “

  “I’d stay out of sight if I were you,” she said with a smile. “I have a feeling there will be more men than women in this house very soon.”

  A short time later Helena slipped back into the room she shared with the lovely Espe, pushing it closed and leaning her back against it.

  “You are never going to believe what just happened,” she said with a smile drawing Espe’s dark eyes toward her. “Myrakle convinced Mr. Redburn that Joseph is the right match for her and together they got him to agree to a dance. Joseph and his brothers will be over tonight to play music for us so we can get to know the other men.” Helena paused for a moment thinking back over the eager men who had poured into the parlor earlier. They seemed like nice enough men and she desperately hoped that one of them would be able to provide a home for her and her father, even if none of them had captured her attention for more than a second or two.

  “A dance?” Espe asked pushing up from the bed where she had been reading one ebony brow raised in interest.

  Helena wiped her hands nervously on her freshly pressed gown and gazed around her at the men who were filing into the parlor.

  At least none of the men appeared to be as repulsive as old Mister Gigger from back home she thought with a shiver.

  Helena smiled as the tall, darkly handsome man from the train station the night before stepped through the room his eyes lighting at the sight of Myrakle and her little dog Dumpling. The energy between them seemed to crackle like streak lightening, and the connection between the two was obvious to anyone with eyes in their heads.

  Even as she thought this though, Mr. Redburn pulled Joseph away from the deaf girl and toward another. Well apparently some people with eyes in their head were still too pigheaded to see what was right in front of their face.

  Perhaps Mr. Redburn was a decent man, with his own set of talents, but at the moment, matchmaking didn’t seem to be one of them. She watched as the man paired various brides with different men wondering what his method was, but lost that train of thought as a tall man with pitch-black hair and dazzling blue eyes strode across the room to talk to Mr. Redburn.

  The man was rather unkempt and she could see flakes of something in his dark locks, even as he pushed past the dancing couples his eyes set on Mr. Redburn.

  “This is Helena Hebert,” Chance Redburn was saying as he led an unobtrusive man toward her. “I think the two of you will do well together. She’s a healthy woman with a few more years on her than some of the others,” he finished making Helena want nothing more than to kick him in the shins with her pointed slipper.

  “Chance I need to talk to you,” the black haired man reached the matchmaker interrupting the introductions.

  “Just a minute Agi,” Chance said. “I’m introducing Miss. Hebert…”

  “Chance I can’t wait,” Agi said. “You know I need…”

  “Agi,” Chance turned to look at the other man. “I’ll find you a match, don’t worry. I’m just pairing everyone up now.”

  As the music began to play, the man Helena had been paired with asked her to dance and together they stepped out onto the space on the floor that had been cleared for the purpose even as she desperately tried to hear the conversation between Mr. Redburn and the man he called Agi.

  As Helena and her partner made their way around the dance floor in the wake of Espe and her potential groom, Helena caught snippets of Mr. Redburn’s conversation. The man, Augusta was apparently the owner of the town’s sawmill, a widower with three small boys.

  Only half listening to her own partner Helena gathered that Augusta seemed to genuinely need a wife to care for his boys, and her heart went out to him for their sakes. She knew all too well how doubt and worry about ones future could wear on a body.

  “Miss Hebert,” Helena’s dance partner interrupted her thoughts and she blushed slightly at her own distraction.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “what were you saying?”

  “Just that you seemed rather distracted,” the man said, making Helena blush more for not being able to remember his name.

  The dance came to an end and Helena was gratef
ul when her partner led her from the floor heading for a small refreshment table that Mr. McGruder had set up.

  “I was just thinking of my father,” Helena lied. “He’s visiting friends in Kansas right now but he’ll be joining me here soon.”

  “You’re father is coming with you?” the man asked, his eyes going wide.

  “Yes, didn’t Mr. Redburn tell you?”

  “No, no he didn’t. I’m afraid I don’t have room for another man on my place,” he said. “I’m sorry, but I think I’d better go talk to Chance again.”

  Helena sighed but nodded. “I completely understand,” she said leading him back toward Chance Redburn just as the black haired man finished speaking. Stepping close Helena looked up at the sawmill owner, her lips twitching as she noted the sawdust on his collar. It must have been devastating for him to lose his wife and now be raising his boys on his own.