I sat alone on the stagecoach feeling a little sorry for myself. My father had announced out of nowhere that I had to go live with my Aunt in Montana. He pulled me out of school, away from Ray Stockton, the boy who had been sparking me and packed me up to take care of my Aunt Ruby. An Aunt I had never heard of until he got a letter from her saying she needed me to come help.
He wouldn't even let me read the letter, just told me to stay on the stagecoach all the way to Billings and a driver would pick me up there. My Aunt's driver, a man named Jack, would pick me up.
The ride had been long and boring and even worse, it was getting colder and colder the further north we went and I didn't have a coat or anything to keep me warm.
I had heard a lot about Billings, and from the talk I had expected something... more. It was just as dirty and unkempt as back home and it also seemed smaller somehow. I climbed out of the coach and looked around as the driver handed me my single bag. Hugging myself, I stepped off the road and up against the livery, trying to get out of the wind.
I didn't see a driver anywhere, or anyone looking for me. I had no idea what to do. I didn't have a penny to my name, I had brought a kerchief with bread and apples with me to eat for my meals and they had run out yesterday morning. I had no clue what to do now. Just stand here in the cold and hope someone showed up eventually?
"Did you just get off the coach?" an older woman asked kindly, hurrying up to me with a shawl to wrap around me.
"Yes! Thank you so much!" I said, grateful for the shawl and the arm she put around my shoulder. "I was supposed to be picked up here?"
"Well the coach is early, you come sit inside and sit by the fire!" the woman said, pulling me into a nearby house. She sat me down in a chair and put a blanket over my lap before going to the stove and stirring something in a pot. "My name is Myrna, but folks around here just call me Mama Banks. What's your name, child?"
"Elizabeth, but my family calls me Lizzie. Is it always so cold up here?"
"Oh, child! This is nothing yet! Fall is just on us! So what is a girl your age doing riding alone on the stagecoach? And with no coat!"
"I am older than I look, eighteen in fact. Most girls my age are married off by now, but I was waitin' on my Ray to get the house built out on his land. He asked my pa and he told him as soon as he was done with it, but my Aunt wrote. I have to come take care of her so Ray will have to wait a little longer."
"Oh? Your Aunt is here in Billings?"
"Close, I guess. Her driver should be coming for me. How early was the coach?"
"A good hour, they must have made good time with one passenger as light as you. Here, eat some of this. My stew will warm you good! And here's some tea. What's your Aunts name?"
"Ruby. Ruby Miller since she was my Ma's kin. Thank you!"
"Don't know a Ruby. She may be further north. Coaches don't go much further north this time a year, Here. I will open this curtain so you can keep an eye on the livery, see if anyone comes along."
"Thank you, for everything. You are incredibly kind."
"Oh, don't you mention it girl. Seen a small thing like you out there so cold and lost, what sort of person would I be if I didn't help? I ask you that now. You are just a tiny thing, aren't you? But as I look at ya, you are all of 18, aren't you? Your man'll be happy to get you back home. There now, who is that? Oh, just Jack Ellison in for his supplies I reckon."
I looked out the window at the man who had stopped in front of the livery, looking around from the wagon seat. He was looking for someone.
"Papa said the driver's name was Jack?" I said, half standing.
"Is that so? Jack Ellison is no one's driver that I know, but he does live up further north. Maybe he is picking you up for someone he knows? He does seem to be looking for someone though, doesn't he? I reckon that's you. Let me walk you over," she said, taking my arm and leading me out the door after hefting the blanket over her other arm.
"Jack! Jack Ellison!" she called, making the man turn and scowl at her. His scowl shifted to me as he looked me up and down, then his face turned furious. "You s'posed to give this girl a ride up to Ruby Miller's place?"
The man stood and dropped down to the ground, looking down at me angrily. "Letter said it was a woman coming, not a child!"
"I'm eighteen!" I said fearfully, trying to step back from the imposing and dangerous looking man. He was slightly less than middle aged, tall and well muscled. A man who worked hard.
"Jack Ellison! This girl has come a long way to care for her Aunt! There's no call to be rude or sour to her!"
The man's face went from angry to cool as he looked at Mama Banks. "I was told she would be a woman," he said more evenly. "I expected someone... larger. More able to... handle the things that would need to be taken care of. This... girl will hardly be able to lift a sack of grain, let alone help her aunt move around."
"I am more capable than I look!" I said angrily. "And I can lift more than you might think as well! I helped on the farm just as much as my brothers did!"
"All the cooking and cleaning?" he asked in a demanding tone.
"All of it! After mama died six years passed, I was all there was to do it. To help with anything till the boys got big enough. Even then, I did the lions share of the huntin' and gardening while they did the other outdoor stuff. I know what I am about and I am just as capable as anyone to take care of my aunt and her house!"
"Fine," the man snapped. "Myrna, thanks for taking her in till I got here."
"Weren't nothing Jack. Here, she aint got a coat. She can have that old shawl, I like my new one better and she can have that blanket too."
"I'll pay you for them," Jack said, shoving his hand into a pocket and pulling out bills. More money than I had ever seen in one place.
"None of that Jack Ellison! You take your money and get on out of here! Get that girl home to her aunt and out of the cold!"
Jack grunted sourly and turned to me. "See that general store?"
"Yessir."
"My name is Jack. Go over there and I will pull around. You know the runnin' of a house, you know what it takes to feed three people through fall, winter and spring?"
"Yeah, mostly. What does she have on hand, do you know? Chickens? Pigs? Anything?"
"Chickens, goats, pigs, two dairy cows and one bull. Plenty of meat on hand, just the other stuff."
"Any gardening? Anything canned for the winter?"
"No."
"Alright, I will see to it then," I said, going to the general store to see what they had. I was stacking beans on top of the flour and sugar when Jack came in and leaned on the wall near the door.
"Hey Jack, your usual?" the shopkeeper called.
