Chapter 1: A Bright Seattle morning

Candy woke up in the dorm. She was the first to awaken to the bright sunny morning. She heard noise outside the window and went to look, she saw the men, the loggers and the sawyers going to work. It was early morning around 5 am and this was their first real day in Seattle. Biddie woke up and went over to look out the window as well.

"Well, looks like they are getting ready to go to work! What work will we be doing I wonder?" Biddie said standing next to Candy. Candy looked at her and then looked at all the unpacked trunks that had been brought over from the ship. She then looked at the ladies and wondered what they were going to have for breakfast. They had not even thought to ask about coffee or other essentials when they arrived. Franny was up now and went over to Candy and said:

"I am going downstairs to see if we have coffee to make." Candy and Biddie nodded and as the other ladies sat up in their beds getting ready for the day was going to be interesting.

"Annie, would you come downstairs to help me?" Franny called up from the kitchen. Annie hurried and put her gown on and went downstairs to help Franny. Sarah and Meghan were the youngest in the group. Sarah was only 15, she had come with her parents to the meeting in New Bedford and her father and mother both signed the papers saying she was emancipated and could make her own decisions. They wanted the best and since the family was already large, three grown boys, three girls and triplets they were more than happy to send Sarah out into the world. Her friend Megahn who was 17 at the time when they left came along as well. She and Meghan sprang out of bed to get a good look at the town. They both ran and dressed before the other ladies had a chance to even get washed up.

"Sarah, Meghan, you are both responsible ladies and as such, you do not 'spring' out of bed, you get up and take care of your 'toilet' properly!" Alice Fergusen said. She was the oldest there. She was 28 and had never been married. Her father was a pastor at a small church in an even smaller town and there had never been anyone available to marry her. Her father had died and after a very rough funeral, where the town was not pleased with a young lady by herself, she had to leave that town and make her way to New Bedford. She had arrived just in time to find out about the Bolt's looking fro Brides. She had no relatives so, she signed up and paid the fee for transportation. She had gone to her father's bank and found he had left a few thousand dollars, and she closed the account and took it with her. She was determined to make a new life for herself.

Candy and the others finished getting ready for the day, she and Biddie went downstairs and found Franny and Annie, still with their gowns on trying to find some coffee to make.

"Biddie, why don't you and I go over to the store and see if we can't get some coffee? Franny, was there anything else in the cupboards? Eggs, bread flour?" Franny and Annie looked at Candy and shook their heads no. The kitchen was not stocked. Candy looked at them and then took Biddie with her to find Mr. Jason Bolt! This would not be the first time she had to go to Mr. Bolt about something, but this would not be the last time either.

They stepped inside Ben's Mercantile and waited while he helped one of the locals with some supplies. When he was finished he came over to them.

"You must be the brides that Jason brought! May I help you?"

"Yes, we need about 5 lbs. of coffee, 6 lbs. of sugar, 8 lbs. of flour and also we need to find out how to get eggs and bacon and other foodstuffs? Is there a farm nearby that we can buy eggs?" Ben looked at them, Emily came in and said hello and said that she had chickens in the back, and she would be glad to help supply eggs until such a time as they had chickens of their own. For the day though they could go over to Lottie's and see if she could supply them with food. Emily smiled at her husband, and he went to get the dry goods ready. Emily took Biddie and Candy over to Lottie's and there they were able to buy sandwiches for the day and were invited to come back to get something for supper that evening.

"Thank you Miss Lottie, but how are we to pay you?" Biddie said.

"I think we should charge this to Mr. Bolt, after all he brought us here and he has to see that we are taken care of until such a time as we can fend for ourselves!" Candy said. As she was talking Jason had come in. He and his brothers had heard that the ladies were in town and needed essentials.

"Am I right Mr. Bolt?" Candy said when she saw that he had come in. Jason looked at her, he had not exactly heard everything she said, and he said to her:

"Right about what, Miss Pruitt?"

"Right about the fact that you and your brothers are responsible for seeing that we have food, and other living essentials!" Jeremy looked at Candy then at his brother who was standing there thinking of what answer he should give to the ladies when Lottie asked:

"Yes, Jason, that seems it should be your responsibility and as such, since the ladies have no food and no means of procuring such, you should take care of that as soon as possible!" Jason put his hand up to his mouth and looked like he was deep in thought. Joshua in the meantime came up to him with an accounting of the approximate cost of food needed for the extra 100 people who had arrived in the town of Seattle.

"Jason, I think we are going to have to work extra hard to be able to make sure that the ladies will be well taken care of!" Jason looked at his brothers and then he said:

"Bolt family conference!" he walked out of the saloon and Joshua and Jeremy followed. Candy watched them and waited. Biddie was looking around at the saloon and asked Lottie:

"Do you think we could make this a restaurant in the day time until after supper?" Lottie looked at Biddie as if she were crazy, but Biddie explained to her what her idea was.

"I was thinking since some of us ladies are excellent cooks, we could work here and earn money to help pay for the things we need in this town. You would still own the saloon and the restaurant but then you would have the evening for the drinking and the daytime for meals?" Candy heard what Biddie said and responded to Biddie before Lottie could say anything.

"Biddie! That is not polite, how do you think Miss Lottie feels, she might think you are trying to take her business away!" Lottie listened to what Biddie had said and listened to Candy and then said to the both of them"
"Let's wait and see what happens. I like the idea but that may not happen to quickly here!" Candy smiled, Miss Lottie was very polite and nice. She wanted the brides to succeed just as much as the men wanted the brides, but she saw that this was good for the whole town and not just the loggers. Meanwhile the Bolt brothers came back in, and Jason said:

"Miss Lottie, The Bolt's will pay for the ladies until such a time as we can get supplies for them. Is that agreed?" Lottie smiled and said yes. Candy went back to the dorm and told the brides that they would do as they had done on the ship, they would eat in shifts and whoever could help serving or cooking would do that as well. Everyone was expected to help. If they did clean up then others would waitress or cook. This arrangement lasted for about two months which is the time it took to get the full amount of supplies for both the dorm and the saloon. In fact, Emily, Ben's wife, gifted two hens and one rooster to get the brides started with their own chickens. Miss Essie helped to set up a garden as well for the Brides.

Biddie was out one afternoon feeding the chickens when she saw something slink behind the chicken coop. She stopped what she was doing and went over to see what it was, when she peered around the corner she screamed and ran out of the chicken coop across to the saloon. She burst in and shouted:

"There is a huge monster eating a chicken behind the chicken coop!" Candy who had heard her scream and went to see what the matter was saw what was behind the coop and did not hesitate to take a large stick and start hitting it. It struck her and tore her skirt. Jeremy was running to the dorm and saw what was happening, he grabbed Candy and pulled her out of the coop. Jason had come around with a shotgun and shot the creature. It had been a wolf. Then he shot the chickens as well.

"NO! you cant shoot the chickens!"

"Yes he can Candy!" she looked at Jeremy and he said, the wolf was foaming at the mouth and that meant he had rabies and if he had rabies then the chickens could get it and if anyone ate the chicken they could get sick and die. Candy started to cry and buried her head in Jeremy's shoulder.

"Jeremy, when she is calmed down, we need to build a sturdier chicken coop for the ladies." Jason said as he called Swede over to help get rid of the bodies and to destroy the coop.

"Why, why Jeremy is he destroying the chicken coop?" Candy said between sniffles.

"Because that is where he is going to bury the animals and then we will find another spot to build the coop and a place for the chickens!" Biddie came out of the saloon, and was quiet, Lottie had given her a drink of 'coffee' to help calm her down.

Joshua came down from the mountain and whispered in Jason's ear. Jason looked up and motioned for Swede, and Jeremy to head back to the camp. Something was happening and they had to go find out what it was.