Mail Order Devastation (Montana Mail Order Brides, Book 4) Read Online Free Page A

street to catch the woman just as she reached street level and turned to her left, heading down the sidewalk.
    “Excuse me!” she called, halting the woman.  “Is this the Deming residence?”
    The woman frowned.  “Yes it is.  Who is asking?”
    Mollie swallowed hard.  “I…uh…I’m just wondering if I have the right place.  I’m looking for a couple, a Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Deming, who adopted a baby girl just last week.”
    The woman pursed her lips and eyed Mollie with suspicion.  “And again, who is asking?”
    “ I’m sorry.  My name is Mollie Quinn.  I…” she realized now she should have prepared a story in advance, but it was too late.  Besides, the woman surely suspected already.  “I’m the baby’s mother.”
    The woman ’s expression softened, but remained wary.  “Mrs. Deming is the baby’s mother.  Surely you realized that when you signed your child over.”
    “ Then I have the right place?  She adopted my Nell?”
    “ Her name isn’t Nell.  If it was, it’s not anymore.  I’ve no idea if the girl was yours or not.  It’s none of my business—and not yours either.  Not anymore.” The woman turned and walked away.
    “ Please…wait!”  Mollie hurried to catch up, striding alongside her.  “You don’t understand.  I’ve been waiting all day in the cold to catch a glimpse of my little girl.  I’ve been searching for her for days.”
    “ Again, not my business.  If you’re having second thoughts—“
    “ I never had first thoughts!” Mollie snapped.  “I never gave up my baby.  I never signed a thing!  My mother took her while I was out looking for a job.  She lied to the nuns so they’d take her—she told them I was dead.  I never gave her away.  She was stolen.”
    The woman stopped short.  “Are you accusing Mr. and Mrs. Deming of stealing your baby?”
    “ No!  No, of course not.  They had no idea. Neither did the nuns.  They’re victims, the same as I.  It was all my mother’s doing.”
    The woman sighed, glancing around to make sure no one was looking.  “My sister gave up her baby,” she whispered.  “Hardest thing she ever did, or probably ever will do.  Poor girl cried for months.  Still cries, sometimes.  I can’t imagine how much worse it would have been if the baby had been taken from her, against her will.” 
    “ Then you’ll help me?”
    “ Help you?  Help you with what?  I’m only a kitchen maid.  I’ve no sway with the family!  I rarely even saw them face to face.”
    “ I know how it is…I’m a kitchen maid, too.  Or was , before…before Nell came along.  Lost my job when they found out I was with child.”
    “ I’m sorry for that.  What house did you work for?”
    “ The Farnsworths.”
    “ Oh my!  Aren’t you the lucky one?”
    “ I was, yes.”
    Both women looked away, glancing around at passing carriages.  They both knew how word got around …Mollie would never work in a great house again.
    The woman cleared her throat.  “Well, if you were a kitchen maid, you know there’s nothing I can do for you.”
    “ You can tell me if the baby is my Nell, for sure.”
    “ I never saw her.  And I’m not likely to, either.  Mr. Deming is closing the house up, for the time being.  Most of the staff will need to find temporary work elsewhere, until they return.”
    “ Return?” Mollie’s heart seized.  “Return from where?”
    “ Oh dear…” the woman paled.  “I’m sorry to tell you, but they’ve gone.  Mr. Deming got a wire, just the day after they brought the baby home.  His mother took ill, and wanted to see him.  The elder Mrs. Deming lives in Montana.”
    “ Montana!  Are you telling me that they’ve taken my baby out west?”  Panic surged through her, and she fought to maintain control as tears pricked her eyes.  My baby, out in the Wild West?   Images filled her mind…of the Indian attacks and train robberies and every imaginable melodramatic tragedy that