Mail Order Bride: The Master: A Historical Mail Order Bride Story (Mail Order Brides) by Lily Wilspur Read Free Book Online Page B

assured her. But he didn’t believe it himself.
    “Him?” Polly’s eyes slid to the front of the church. “He’s a dreamer. Just look at him. What kind of man dresses like that? He’s living in another world. He thinks his learning and his education will get him out of this. He’ll die today along with the rest of us.”
    “Noah can’t kill all of us,” Matthew told her.
    Polly fixed him with a withering glare from under her veil. “I only meant him and me. And you, too, of course.”
    Matthew quailed and he almost started to cry. “Don’t say that, Miss.”
    Polly put her head to one side. “What’s the matter? Don’t tell me you didn’t know? You stuck your neck out, and now it’s on the block with the rest of us. You can’t get away any more than we can. You’ll die today along with us.”
    “It’s not true, Miss,” Matthew wailed. “Don’t say that.”
    He didn’t wait to hear any more. He whirled away from Polly and rushed up the side aisle of the church to his family’s pew. He threw himself into the seat next to his mother and kept his eyes down at his hands to avoid seeing Polly or the Master again.

Chapter 12
    The minister plowed through the usual church service with its Bible reading and its sermon. Only at the very end did he raise his head from the podium and announce, “And now, we come to the moment we’ve all come here to share, the marriage of our own School Master, Brian Buchanan, with Polly McLane from Albany.”
    The congregation dissolved into a twitter of conversation. Everyone turned around and craned their necks to catch a glimpse of Polly in the doorway in her gown and veil. A hush of admiration descended when she appeared, and every set of eyes watched her walk down the aisle toward the Master—every set of eyes except Matthew’s.
    He kept his eyes down to prevent himself from bursting into tears. His teeth chattered in his head and his hands shook. His shoulders shuddered with icy cold. He hated himself. He’d never felt so helpless in his life. He should have stayed home.
    Polly floated up the aisle. The Master admired her along with everyone else, a proud, dignified smile on his face. They met in front of the altar and faced each other for a brief moment before turning to the podium.
    The minister opened his mouth to speak when the door of the church banged open and a deep male voice thundered through the stillness.“Stop!”
    Matthew’s nerves collapsed and he let out a pathetic whimper. He didn’t have to look to know who it was. Noah Bartlett strode up the aisle toward the altar, his pistol waving in his hand.
    Women screamed and children began crying in their mothers’ arms. Another male voice called over the crowd, “You’re a coward, Bartlett, for barging in here,” but everyone cowered down in their pews and hid.
    Noah shouted over the congregation to the minister. “I guess you decided to skip the part about anyone objecting to the marriage. Well, I’m here to object, and I intend to speak now and never hold my peace.” He swept his gun across the crowd, drawing a fresh wave of screams from the womenfolk. Wherever he pointed it, someone screamed and everyone ducked their heads behind their pews.
    Bartlett stormed up the aisle to the altar. Matthew peeked out just enough to see Polly standing stock still under her veil, waiting for death to take her. The Master glared at Bartlett, but didn’t flinch at the sight of the gun in his face.
    “I warned you I’d be comin’ for ya,” Bartlett snarled. “Well, here I am, and you’re done for.”
    The Master’s green eyes flashed. He didn’t fear Bartlett or his gun in the slightest, even though he and everyone else in the church were unarmed. “Get out of here, Noah. You aren’t welcome here.”
    “Not welcome here!” Noah thundered. “This is a church! Everyone’s welcome in a church.”
    “Not you,” the Master corrected him.
    “Well, I’m here,” Noah bellowed. “and you can’t get