Sinking down to the bench seat, the letter held between them, Charlie and Danny poured through the letter line by line and when they were done, started on the next, collapsing back on the bench as they finished. “Charlie, I’m so sorry, I had no idea. I don’t know how I could have missed that.” Danny breathed, wondering exactly how this had all gone so wrong. Charlie patted his knee as she looked out the window as she considered their options. “Well, there's no reason not to continue on. There’s either been a misunderstanding on our part or theirs. If it’s been on ours, maybe they’d be willing to let us stay on as their hired help. They’ve already offered to put you to work as a ranch hand. Perhaps I could offer my services as a nanny, They …show more content…
The man with whom Danny had corresponded with was Miles. It was after they had gone through all the letters that they realized a last name was never mentioned. He was in his late thirties, as was his “partner,” Bass. “They” had a son named Connor who was a year older than Charlie and a daughter, Sophia, who was two and whom they felt was beginning to suffer from the lack of a maternal figure in her life. Nothing was said about why she didn’t already have a mother. Unfortunately, Charlie was very much aware of all the reasons why that might be, having a doctor for a grandfather. They lived near Republic, Montana, a small town that had taken its name from the nearby ranch. The two men had moved there at the end of the war and were considered the founding fathers of said town. They were successful in raising both cattle and sheep, and as Danny had pointed out for the third time, they were wealthy. That was the only personal information they were able to pry out of the, at times, ink smeared letters. Whoever had written the letters was not a patient …show more content…
“It’s the frontier, Charlie. They have a right to be concerned about whether the pampered granddaughter of a Chicago doctor can hold up under the life that they live. They’ve obviously lost one, if not two wives already.” “You know he was your grandfather, too. And I notice you didn’t even bother to mention that our other grandfather was a lawyer.” Danny shrugged. “It’s not like we knew him. Plus, Grandfather Porter taught you just as much as he did me. There’s no reason for Miles and Bass not to know that you had an unusual childhood, exposed to things other young women of your status have no clue about.” “Are you sure you don’t want to be a lawyer,” Charlie asked with a huff in his direction. xxx Arriving in Butte, Danny followed the directions given to them in the last letter and headed to the stagecoach office to purchase their tickets for the next departing stage. Once that was completed, they headed to the telegraph office to have word sent ahead to Republic that they had arrived in Butte and would be boarding the stagecoach early the next day. They were expected to arrive by early