Lazy Days Read online

  Lazy Days

  Read the First Book in Each of Four Series.

  Cry of the West: Hallie

  (Finding Home Series)

  Abby: Mail Order Bride

  (Unconventional Series)

  Roth: Protector

  (Shapeling Trilogy)

  Dream Kisses

  (Romance on the Ranch Series)

  Copyright © 2013 by Verna Clay

  Photo: iStock (IngaIvanova)

  Table of Contents

  Cry of the West: Hallie

  Finding Home Series

  Preface

  Prologue

  Chapter 1: Finding Courage

  Chapter 2: Unexpected Request

  Chapter 3: First Names, Please

  Chapter 4: Traveling Companions

  Chapter 5: No Room at the Inn

  Chapter 6: All Aboard!

  Chapter 7: Slime

  Chapter 8: Westport Bound

  Chapter 9: Land Legs

  Chapter 10: Gee Haw

  Chapter 11: "Westward Ho!"

  Chapter 12: Caress

  Chapter 13: Crossing the Wakarusa

  Chapter 14: Carvings at Alcove Spring

  Chapter 15: Bad Dream at Fremont Springs

  Chapter 16: Narrow Escape at The Narrows

  Chapter 17: The Lone Tree

  Chapter 18: Platte Incident

  Chapter 19: Fancy Girlfriends

  Chapter 20: Descending Windlass Hill

  Chapter 21: Eyeful at Ash Hollow

  Chapter 22: Release at Register Cliff

  Chapter 23: Blessing

  Chapter 24: Audaciousness

  Chapter 25: Reconciliation at Independence Rock

  Chapter 26: Parting of the Waters and Parting of the Ways

  Chapter 27: Sad Times at Clover Creek

  Chapter 28: Heart to Heart at Shoshone Falls

  Chapter 29: Showdown at Fort Boise

  Chapter 30: Goodbye Farewell Bend; Hello Blue Mountains

  Chapter 31: Decisions…Again

  Chapter 32: The Barlow Road: Conquer or Be Conquered

  Chapter 33: Beginning Again at the End

  Chapter 34: Sowing and Reaping

  Chapter 35: Letter

  Chapter 36: Not Just Another Day

  Epilogue

  Research Materials for Hallie: Cry of the West

  Author's Note

  Rescue on the Rio: Lilah (Excerpt)

  Finding Home Series

  Abby: Mail Order Bride

  Unconventional Series

  Preface

  Chapter 1: Courage or Folly?

  Chapter 2: Butterflies

  Chapter 3: Eight Eyes

  Chapter 4: Cookies

  Chapter 5: Ornery Chickens

  Chapter 6: Miz Pitts

  Chapter 7: Barn-Raising

  Chapter 8: Wedding Day

  Chapter 9: Honeymoon Blues

  Chapter 10: Awakenings

  Chapter 11: Tidings of Great Joy

  Chapter 12: Luke

  Chapter 13: Birthdays

  Chapter 14: Life's Twist

  Chapter 15: Endless Despair

  Chapter 16: Toothless Charlie

  Chapter 17: Sorrow Expressed

  Chapter 18: Revelations

  Chapter 19: Homecoming

  Epilogue

  Author's Note

  Broken Angel (Excerpt)

  Unconventional Series

  Roth: Protector

  Shapeling Trilogy

  Preface

  Chapter 1: First Impressions

  Chapter 2: Forest Lesson

  Chapter 3: Encounter

  Chapter 4: Frustration

  Chapter 5: Ultimatum

  Chapter 6: New Digs

  Chapter 7: Finding Tahnoon

  Chapter 8: Caravan

  Chapter 9: Adventure

  Chapter 10: Revelation

  Chapter 11: Truce

  Chapter 12: Across the Nile

  Chapter 13: Trouble

  Chapter 14: Confessions

  Chapter 15: Set-Up

  Chapter 16: Sting

  Chapter 17: Comfort

  Chapter 18: Welcome Home

  Chapter 19: Polite Conversation

  Chapter 20: Deception

  Chapter 21: Truth to Tell

  Chapter 22: Seeing is Believing

  Author's Note

  Fawn: Master (excerpt)

  Shapeling Trilogy

  Dream Kisses

  Romance on the Ranch Series

  Preface

  Chapter 1: Male Model

  Chapter 2: Java Break

  Chapter 3: Expect the Unexpected

  Chapter 4: Stuck in Dodge

  Chapter 5: Busted

  Chapter 6: Food Server

  Chapter 7: Orientation

  Chapter 8: Lasso Lessons

  Chapter 9: Family Photos

  Chapter 10: Cowboy Up

  Chapter 11: Morning Regrets

  Chapter 12: Role Playing

  Chapter 13: "WESTWARD HO!"

  Chapter 14: Lost and Alone

  Chapter 15: Moonlight and Stars

  Chapter 16: Calm before the Storm

  Chapter 17: Sharing

  Chapter 18: High Fashion Greenhorns

  Chapter 19: Storm

  Chapter 20: Gossip Girls

  Chapter 21: Clean up Girl

  Chapter 22: Fling

  Chapter 23: Declaration Six Months Later

  Epilogue

  Author's Note

  Honey Kisses (excerpt)

  Romance on the Ranch Series

  Stranded in Oasis (excerpt)

  Oasis, Arizona Series (coming January 2014)

  Novels and Novellas by Verna Clay

  Cry of the West

  Finding Home Series

  "Hallie"

  Verna Clay

  This book is dedicated to those possessing the pioneer spirit of adventure…even the tiniest bit.

  Cry of the West

  "Hallie"

  Finding Home Series

  Copyright © 2013 by Verna Clay

  Second Edition

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

  For information contact:

  [email protected]

  website: www.VernaClay.com

  Publisher:

  M.O.I. Publishing

  "Mirrors of Imagination"

  Editor: Jami Carpenter (Redpen girl)

  Cover Design: Verna Clay

  Pictures:

  iStock Photo.com (Dziner4) (pioneer woman)

  Dreamstime.com (Philcold) (wagon train)

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Preface

  Writing Hallie's story has been a labor of love. For a long time I contemplated writing a book encompassing the Oregon Trail, and the more research I did as the story unfolded, the more I fell in love with the pioneers who gave up everything to follow their dreams and the Native Americans adversely affected by westward migration. The hardships endured by both groups are unimaginable.

  In writing this story, I am in no way attempting to typify the lives of those who braved the Oregon Trail or the Native Americans impacted. My story has been written solely as romantic entertainment, but with the added aspect of research.

  Regarding historical accuracy, I attempted to remain true to history but fudged one event, which I shall explain shortly. As for the locations described in Cry of the West, I decided it would be helpful if fabricated locations were known prior to the reading of the story. Other than
those listed below, the locations and information remain true to my research.

  The Oregon Trail began in Missouri, not far from St. Louis, and crossed in greater or lesser degrees, the states we now know as Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon. For much of trail history, these states were considered territories. For the timeframe of my book — 1866 — Oregon and Kansas were already admitted as states of the Union.

  I hope you enjoy your journey from Westport Landing in Missouri to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Of course, any inaccuracies other than indicated below, are inadvertent and I take responsibility for them.

  Fabrications from my imagination are: the steamship, Mirabella; the towns of Jebson and River Bend Grove; Muddy Creek Valley; and the Brandon Hotel.

  The tornado that struck St. Louis in 1866 is factual; however, it happened in October, not March.

  Happy Trails,

  Verna Clay

  Order of books in the Finding Home Series:

  Hallie: Cry of the West

  Lilah: Rescue on the Rio

  Daisy: Missouri Challenge

  Prologue

  March 1866

  With one arm around her eight-year-old son, Hallie Wells swiped her eyes with the handkerchief clenched in her other hand, trying to remain stoic. When men from her church began lowering her husband's coffin into his freshly dug grave, she bit her lip until she tasted blood to keep from sobbing, wanting to wail when the first pitch of dirt sounded on the simple wooden box.

  Timmy, who had been so brave the past two days, turned into her side and buried his face against her bosom, his thin body shaking with gut-wrenching sorrow. Hallie's heart broke for her child who had loved his father dearly.

  The pastor's wife placed a hand on Hallie's shoulder as Pastor Murdock said kindly, "Hallie and Timmy, it's time to leave."

  Still clutching her son, Hallie turned slowly from the grave, but at the last minute paused and stared at her husband's coffin. She whispered, "I'll fulfill our dream, Thomas, I promise," and then released the sob she had been trying so valiantly to keep inside.

  Chapter 1: Finding Courage

  The crackling fire usually so comforting on a cold night did little to dispel Hallie's anxiety. Staring into the flames, she took deep breaths and closed her eyes, but her mind refused any semblance of peace.

  Tom, why did you have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? Why did fate send you to St. Louis on the same day as a tornado?

  In the week since Thomas’s burial, Hallie and Timmy mourned his loss, though in different ways. Usually outgoing and rambunctious, Timmy became reserved and quiet, while Hallie, hoping to still her fears for a while, weeded flower beds and scrubbed and cleaned the cabin that had been her home with her husband and childhood sweetheart for the past seven years.

  Now, with Timmy in bed and her head drooping from exhaustion—sorrow, laced with fear of the future for her son and herself—could no longer be held at bay, and her tears coursed unhindered. That awful day when Pastor Murdock galloped to her farm with the sad news of her husband's demise replayed itself in her mind. The kindly pastor had tried to offer some consolation by explaining that Thomas, shielding a little girl from debris thrown by the tornado and saving her life, was struck himself, and according to the deputy, most likely did not suffer since he never regained consciousness.

  The thought of her sweet husband being so brave brought a fresh wave of tears, but for a few minutes Hallie allowed herself the unreasonable feeling of anger toward Thomas for dying and leaving her and Timmy alone. Her anger was soon replaced with self-pity because now they had nothing, all their worldly belongings having been sold a month earlier in anticipation of their upcoming travel.

  Finally, with her anger and sorrow spent, Hallie inhaled a shuddering breath, stared into the orange flames, and resolved to find a solution to her dilemma. Methodically, she inventoried her predicament—she had no home, no employment, and practically no belongings. What she did have, however, was the reason for Thomas's trip to St. Louis. In his pocket were three tickets for passage aboard the steamboat Mirabella leaving in mid April from St. Louis to Westport Landing. She also had enough money to purchase a wagon, oxen, and supplies necessary to continue from Westport with the train headed west on the Oregon Trail.

  You have more than that; you have the dream Thomas inspired.

  For the first time in days, Hallie smiled.

  Tom, your dream of adventure and new beginnings was infectious.

  For a few minutes, she envisioned the land her husband had diligently researched—the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Even now, his enthusiastic voice rang in her ears. "It's the next best thing to heaven, honey. So beautiful it steals your breath away. We'll start a new farm with crops that fairly burst from the ground they're so happy at being sown. We'll build a home to last through generations. We'll have the adventure of a lifetime. Can't you hear the Cry of the West? Come on, Hallie, say you'll consider it."

  A log popped, hissed, and crumbled, the sound bringing Hallie back to the present and crumbling her memory of that magic moment—but not her reply, which was the same today as it had been on that glorious day—"Yes, I'll go!"

  Shoring up her resolve to continue onward to Oregon, Hallie determined that her next step was to hire a man to drive the wagon she'd purchase in Westport. She would have to budget carefully in order to pay him and the expenses of their journey, as well as the beginnings of her new life in Oregon, but it was all doable.

  Finally, she dozed in her rocking chair dreaming of beautiful Oregon, a new state full of opportunity in this vast United States.

  Chapter 2: Unexpected Request

  Cooper Jerome cursed and began walking the short distance from Jebson's Livery to Jebson's General Store so as to pass the time while his horse was being shod.

  Dammit, Sweet Pea, why couldn't you wait until we got home to throw a shoe?

  Cooper glanced at Vernon's Saloon and felt the pull of cheap whiskey. He wanted a drink—bad. So bad, in fact, his steps faltered and his courage wavered.

  Bolstered with determination, he hastened his steps across the street and down the boardwalk to the store and saw Mrs. Wells enter with her son. He'd heard tell that her husband was killed in the tornado that hit St. Louis. He felt sorry for her, but she was young and would most likely find another husband—probably a widower with a few kids—and life would go on. She wasn't outright pretty, but she was passable.

  He remembered meeting the Wells shortly after being discharged from the army and settling into the small farm he'd bought six months previous. Mr. Wells walked with a pronounced limp and a brace on one leg and Cooper wondered if he suffered from the ravages of infantile paralysis. As for Mrs. Wells, he'd never forgotten the color of her eyes—as green as the grass on Kentucky hills. One of the locals had introduced them outside of Jebson's store, the gathering place for local gossip and news. In fact, Toliver Jebson and a slew of brothers, sons, cousins, and other family members, owned just about everything in the small town of Jebson, twenty miles east of St. Louis.

  After that first meeting, he'd transacted a couple of animal purchases with Mr. Wells when he bought a mule and some chickens to get his farm going.

  Returning his thoughts to the present, Cooper knew the neighborly thing to do would be to offer his condolences. By the time he entered the store, however, Mrs. Wells had disappeared into the back room jammed with fabric bolts and sewing supplies. Rather than follow her into that part of the store, he decided to buy a case of shells for his twin Smith and Wesson six-shooters and wait for her to return.

  * * *

  Hallie pretended interest in a bolt of blue gingham while she tried to steady her rapid breathing.

  "Ma, can I go see if Zack and Zeke are out back?" Timmy asked.

  "Sure. Just don't get so caught up you don't hear me when I call."

  "Okay, Ma."

  Hallie breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't want Timmy overhearing her when she talked to Mr. Jerome
. She'd seen the tall cowboy crossing the street toward the general store and then heard the door open when he entered. Her mind shouted, "Ask him!"

  She'd met Mr. Jerome a couple of times before and later observed to Tom that he looked like a haunted man. Her husband had replied, "He's recently returned from the War of the States as a Union soldier and bought that ramshackle old Richardson place." He had sighed and continued, "That's what war does to a man, especially when its brother-against-brother." After that, Tom had pointed to his bum leg caused from a childhood bout with paralysis and said, "I guess something good did come of this. I didn't have to fight in a war and kill my fellow Americans."

  Hallie heard Timmy call a greeting to Mrs. Jebson and then open and close the door as he went in search of his friends. Gathering her wits, she reentered the front of the store and bumped into Mr. Jerome when she rounded the door frame. Inadvertently, she gasped and placed a hand over her heart.

  "Sorry, ma'am, I didn't mean to frighten you."

  His voice was rich and deep and Hallie was suddenly tongue-tied. The man was so—she searched for a word—masculine: over six feet tall, with wavy black hair tied back with a leather strap and a face that seemed carved from granite with its angles and planes. Blue eyes that would make the loveliest shade for a dress stared at her above cheeks and jaws that hadn't seen a razor for days. She couldn't decide whether his looks favored that of an angel or a devil. Her courage almost failed, but then she remembered Tom saying that Mr. Jerome was a just and good man.

  In a breathless voice, she said, "Hello, Mr. Jerome. You're just the man I wanted to see."

  He gave her a questioning look. "Is that right?"

  "Yes, sir. Do you suppose we could walk onto the porch? I'd like to discuss a proposition with you that is of a private nature."

  Mr. Jerome quirked an eyebrow and Hallie turned scarlet when she realized the suggestive nature of her remark.

  He stepped aside, motioning toward the door with his hand. "After you, ma'am."