Amandas's Mail Order Cowboy: The Story of A Mail Order Bride and Her Mail Order Husband (Mail Order Brides Book 14) by Susan Leigh Carlton

scale. Frankly, I think Jim and Cora were struggling to get by. He never asked for help, though.
    “I would be against selling the land, unless we sold it to the Lazy K. We’d have to hire someone to determine the fair market value. I’d just as soon keep it in the trust name for Abby, he said.
    “You know best,” Amanda said. “I think you’re doing the right thing in keeping her interests above board, so there can be no question of our being honest about it.”
     

chapter Twenty-one
    The Letters
    Amanda turned her attention to the two letters she had found. The writing on the envelopes was faded and almost illegible; She made out the beginning of a last name. It was “Bec.” That has to be Beckendorf. Unable to read the return address she used a small magnifying glass, but could only make out the state. I’m pretty sure it’s Pennsylvania . The actual letter had not faded as much as the envelope. She still couldn’t read it. It was not English. Probably German, with a name like Beckendorf. She turned to the other letter. The handwriting appeared to be that of the same person. The address had faded completely. Inside, proved to be unreadable also, however, the signature read “Mutter.”
    I wonder if there is anyone Rance knows who speaks German. I’ll have to find out. She asked when he came in from the range.
    After he kissed her, he said, “I don’t know. There may be. Clem would know. We can check on Sunday.”
    The Methodist Church, Sunday…
    “I don’t personally know of anyone,” Clem said, when Amanda asked. “The priest at the Lutheran might himself, or he may know of someone. The Lutheran Church is rooted in Germany. Why don’t you go over after our services?” he asked. “Someone will probably still be there.”
    “Thank you, we’ll stop and see.”
    After the customary socializing, they stopped at the Lutheran Church and spoke to Pastor Mueller.
    After they explained what they were doing, he said, “I do speak German, though it’s a bit rusty. I will be glad to look at your letters.”
    “I can’t make out a goodly portion, but it appears to be from a mother to a daughter,” the pastor said, as he stroked his long white beard. “Mutter is mother, and dotter is daughter. Both words appear in both letters. There is a reference to Germantown, but it is vague. Germantown is an old town in Pennsylvania. Quite a few Germans settled there, and many of them moved on to Minnesota. I, myself came here from Minnesota.”
    “Thank you, Pastor,” Amanda said. “We thought it would be nice if we could find any family of Abby.”
    “What would you do if you found someone,” he asked.
    “I would imagine they might like to know the fate of their relatives,” Amanda said.
    “Is this the child?” he asked, indicating Abby. “And what of her?”
    “I suppose we would tell her at some point. I don’t think she’s old enough to understand at her present age,” Amanda said.
    “And what do you propose to do if they want to assume responsibility for the child? Blood runs deep in the German culture.”
    “I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Amanda said.
    “It would be wise for you to do so,” the kindly old man said.
    Rance shook the pastor’s hand and thanked him. A visibly shaken Amanda held on to his arm as they returned to the wagon.
    At home…
    “Do you think I should stop pursuing this?” Amanda asked.
    “It might be best to drop it,” Rance said. “I can’t imagine anything good of it.”
    “I would want to know if anything happened to my child,” she said. “At the same time, I don’t even want to think about someone taking Abby. I believe you’re right. I’m going to let it go.”
    Three weeks later…
    “There’s something we need to get done.” Amanda said.
    “What’s that?” asked Rance.
    “We need to make some changes in the bedroom,” she said.
    “I thought you ordered the paper from Sam,” he said.
    “I did. We need to get a bassinet,” she