Mature Content: No
With: Sarah Thornton
Location: San Francisco
Time of Day: Morning
Looking up at the clock, Sarah Thornton noted the time. It wouldn't be much longer and she would be leaving San Francisco for good. Maybe she could come back here one today but that was a bit of wishful thinking. There were too many people who wanted her gone.
Earlier that morning she had said her final goodbyes to her father and mother. They hadn't pressed her any further on why she had to go but her father had requested that she go on mission for him. Initially, she had no real plans except to get on the train and go east until she found a place she liked the sound of. Her father's request now gave her a purpose, at least in the short term.
Watching the other passengers milling around on the train platform, she thought about why she was here. It had all started out innocently - another man vying for her attention and perhaps her hand in marriage. When she stumbled upon his family's secret by accident, she had thought nothing of it until she realised she had learned too much. The man, maybe because of his attraction to her, had given her the option to leave or stay. The implications in staying were made very clear to her and so she took the option of going.
Thankfully, the man and his family had given her a couple of weeks to get her affairs in order. She was able to sell her most of her property, including the house she had lived in the last few years and most of her belongings. What she didn't give to her parents or her brothers, was in the trunk that was now on board the train, along with a few items of clothing. In her valise, she had a couple changes of clothing and toiletries for the trip along with personal papers including a large bank draft.
For the next few minutes, she made her way onto the train and into the private compartment she had booked. Now that she knew where she was going, she wanted it to be as comfortable as possible. This was the beginning of a very long trip and she had no idea where it would end up.
As the train made its way east, Sarah didn't have much to do except take in the scenery and write the occassional entry in her journal. One day, she thought she might put it all in a book as it would be an interesting read. The story of girl born to the younger son of prosperous rancher, given only a cash inheritance to make his way in the world. Instead of staying put, her father, Robert, had decided to try his luck in Philadelphia. It was there that he had met her mother, Isabelle.
When she was nearly fifteen, her father had decided to go to San Francisco. On the way there, they had stopped at the family ranch which was now owned by her uncle, John Caleb. Staying there for a nearly a month, she and her brothers had gotten to know their cousins, Chance and Shade. She had found both of them likeable and charming.
Over the following years, her father regularly wrote to her uncle. She remembered hearing about Shade getting into some sort of trouble. When she had asked her father to elaborate, he couldn't as John Caleb hadn't said any more than that. She hadn't given it much though since then, but now that she was headed to Lost Lake Ranch, it intrigued her.
After her uncle had died, her father had kept in touch with Chance. It was now a long overdue response to his last letter that had prompted him to ask her to go to Montana. His concern for his nephew was evident and knowing what it would mean to him, she agreed to go. It also gave her some purpose now that she had no idea of what she was going to do with her life.
What would she find in Montana? She really hoped that Chance's last letter had gotten lost somewhere along the way. The mail service was known to be unreliable at times, especially in places like middle of the country, where stagecoach and train robberies happened a lot. It was better to think of that being reason, then the possibility of something much, much worse.
As the train continued to make it's way across the country, Sarah wondered more about her relatives in Montana. She hoped that they would be welcoming enough to allow her stay at least until the Spring. From what she knew the winters could be long and harsh which would make travelling hard. She didn't relish the thought of spending the whole time in a lonely hotel room as she wanted to use the time to get to know Chance and his family.
Seeing the conductor walking down the aisle, she motioned to him. The man smiled "Yes ma'am?"
"Could you tell me when we will be arriving in Helena?"
"Should be there by this time tomorrow, if'n we don't have any delays."
"Thank you." Sarah answered.
As the conductor went on his way, Sarah leaned back in her seat. It had been a long trip due to a couple of overnight stops on the way that were caused by fallen trees and tracks that needed to be repaired. Her first task, other than finding a hotel, was to find out when the next stage to Kalispell was leaving. Hopefully, it would be a day or two at the most. At the very least, she would have enough time to send a couple of stories to her publisher in New York with the return address as the post office, or whatever they had there that served as one in Kalispell.
All she knew that no matter what happened where her cousin was concerned, she would be making Kalispell her temporary home.