Posts Tagged ‘open-skies’

Fury of the Wind

Posted: 20/03/2026 by vequinox in Literature
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
0
Image

excerpt

Mrs. Thompson knew how to keep her mouth shut. Never once had
she uttered a word of gossip, nor made any comment on either Ben
or his family.
Sarah asked her new friend to the wedding but the older woman
shook her head. “I’d like to, lass, but His Nibs’ll be chewing tacks by
this time. I told him I’d be home this morning so I’d better be, even
if Joyce stays for a day or two longer.”
Sarah had voiced her disappointment, but she could understand
Mrs. Thompson’s reluctance to go to the ceremony. But why hadn’t
Ben invited any of his other friends or neighbours? It would have
been an opportunity for her to meet them. Was he so shy that he
hadn’t told anyone about her, or about his marriage? She thought
of the townspeople gathered in front of the rectory. When she saw
them, she thought they had come out to offer their best wishes,
but it had taken only a matter of seconds to sense that this was not
a friendly crowd. And Ben’s muttered oath only strengthened her
conviction.
So when Mr. Andrews came towards her with his hand out, she
felt both pleasure and relief to see a familiar face – the first one
she had seen since waving goodbye to Margaret and Elizabeth from
the train as it left Tillsonburg. Mr. Andrews had even been smiling,
and it lit up his face. She could tell he was a gentleman, just from
the gracious way he took over Ben’s duties and helped her into the
pickup. It saved her embarrassment in front of all those strangers,
and she would be forever grateful.
Sarah tied an apron over her wedding dress, patted her curls
into place and went into the kitchen. Ben would be busy with the
evening chores for a couple of hours, so she had plenty of time to
prepare the supper she had planned.
“The wedding supper.” She said it aloud and it sounded strange
on her tongue. And sad. She had always imagined friends gathered
around on this occasion. But, as disappointing as it may be, she
determined to make the most of it.
Sarah laid the table in the front room with a white linen cloth
from the buffet drawer. It was yellowed with disuse, but she would
wash it on Monday and put laundry bluing in the rinse to bring
back the brightness. For tonight it would have to do. She had taken
Mrs. Fielding’s best china and silverware from the buffet, washed…

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0981073530

Water in the Wilderness

Posted: 19/03/2026 by vequinox in Literature
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
0
Image

excerpt

…had made arrangements for her aunt to drive her to Calgary this morning. Moe had invited them to stay with her and Ken, but they had not left the Holy Cross since arriving there shortly after the noon hour. Tyne knew that Aunt Millie would insist on her going to the Halls’ house tonight to get some rest.
Recently appointed to the position of head nurse on the Pediatric ward, Moe had met them when they got to the hospital, and taken them immediately to see Bobby and Ronald. Tyne stood beside the younger child’s bed, stroking his arm where it lay limp on the covers, the hand swathed in dressings. After a moment he opened his eyes and looked at her, and Tyne’s heart leapt. Moe said he had not yet responded, so the slight smile that passed over his face had given them all reason for hope and rejoicing. However, there had been nothing since, and Tyne’s spirits began to flag as she sat in the waiting room, hoping for another chance to see him.
As for Ronald he had greeted her politely as she approached his bed, but had bowed his head and whispered. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Cresswell.”
“For what, Ronald? What have you to be sorry for?”
“That I couldn’t take better care of them.”
“Oh, Ronald, you did take care of them. Rachael told me how you made them keep moving.” Tyne gently stroked his arm. “If you hadn’t been there … if you hadn’t stopped them from giving up and going to sleep, they would have … they would have died.”
Through her tears Tyne had seen Ronald’s eyes fill up, and tenderly she had wrapped her arms around him and let him cry quietly on her shoulder.
Moe had told her earlier that Ronald’s parents had been to see him the previous day. She wondered how Bill had acted towards him, and was thankful that Ronald was in the safety of the hospital ward. She shuddered to think that the boy would have to return home upon his discharge from the Holy Cross. She had felt relief when Moe told her Bill and Ruby had returned to Emblem, because she felt she could not have been civil to them had she seen them.
Breaking into her thoughts, Aunt Millie came through the door with a loaded tray. A tantalizing aroma of chicken soup…

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562884

https://www.amazon.com/dp/192676319X

He Rode Tall

Posted: 16/03/2026 by vequinox in Literature
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
0
Image

excerpt

…daughter, disappeared from his life. Over the years, Joel had tried,
sometimes better than others, to keep in touch with his daughter.
Eventually, Joel had allowed the distance, the time zones, his
drinking, and his isolation to build a wall between them. Now
that Joel was back in North America and getting his life together
he had been hoping to reconnect with her. She would be fifteen
now, he thought.
Over the last few months, every lead he tried had dried up. Letters
were returned, stamped with “Return to Sender,” and phone
numbers had long been transferred to other parties. He was hoping
that somehow he could connect with his ex-wife’s family, but
that led nowhere. She was the only child, and it seemed as if her
parents had fallen off the face of the earth. Maybe they had. He
tried everything he could possibly think of and then in a state of
desperation, he phoned an agency that specialized in tracking
down lost relatives. They seemed very keen when he had called
and he sent them his ex-wife’s last-known address, along with
some old photos and the fee for their services. He was as hopeful
as they were, but they found exactly the same thing he did. The
trail went cold. It looked like he had left it too long.
Just the other day, he had received a call from a very nice lady
at the agency who explained that every once in a while they run
into a trail that was so cold that it was virtually untraceable, and,
as much as she hated to admit it, this was what it looked like. She
explained that if she had anything to trace she would, but, for
now, they had run out of options.
Yesterday as he held Cindy in his arms, he told her all about
Amber and his efforts to find her. Cindy reacted exactly as he
expected the caring and compassionate woman that he had
grown to love would. They held each other’s naked bodies and
quietly shed tears for Joel and his lost daughter.
Standing by the stallions in their paddocks this morning Joel
had to wonder if he would ever see Amber again. Where was she?
What was she doing? Although he had to face the sad reality that
he had really blown it and would probably never see his daughter…

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562862

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0980897955

Wellspring of Love

Posted: 10/03/2026 by vequinox in Literature
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
0
Image

excerpt

Ronald awoke with a start, and with the feeling that he had only just
managed to drift off to sleep. He had heard something. He listened
intently but only the soft murmuring of a breeze rustling the curtain
at his open window disturbed the stillness. He must have been
dreaming. Or had he? Did Aunt Millie call?
Remembering his recent concerns about Millie’s health, Ronnie
shook himself fully awake, threw the covers back, jumped out of bed
and headed for the bedroom door. But he was arrested in mid-stride
by a loud banging on the front door of the house. He turned to the
window then realized that, since his bedroom was at the back of the
house, he had no way of seeing the front door. Pulling on the cozy
robe Aunt Millie had given him for Christmas, he raced out of the
room and down the hallway to the stairs, not bothering with slippers.
He had to put a stop to that racket before it frightened his aunt.
The banging continued without letup, an eerie sound of desperation
in the middle of the night. Ronald turned the key in the lock and
yanked the door open.
Rachael collapsed into his arms. At the same instant he was aware
of the sounds of a motor and tires squealing as a car tore away from
the curb. Instinctively, his nostrils flared with the stale odour of beer
and cigarette smoke and he turned his head away. Kicking the door
closed, he grasped her shoulders, held her at arm’s length and stared
at the girl he hardly recognized as his sister.
“You’re a mess, Rachael. What’s going on? What are you doing
here?”
She struggled to free herself but he held on, firming his grip. She
winced and finally cried out. “Stop it, Ronnie, let me go. You’re hurting
me.”
When he complied, she teetered drunkenly in front of him, then
staggered to the sofa and flopped onto it. Long strings of coloured
beads were tangled in hair which had sprung loose from a headband…

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562917

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763327

Fury of the Wind

Posted: 07/03/2026 by vequinox in Literature
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
0
Image

excerpt

She placed her tiny white-gloved hand in his outstretched one, and
her fingers curled around his as if they were grasping a lifeline.
“I just want to wish you happiness, Miss … uh … Mrs. Fielding.”
He glanced at Ben on the other side of the pickup. “You too, Ben.
Congratulations.”
With only a grunted acknowledgement Ben opened the truck
door and got in. Will looked into Sarah’s face which was on a level
with his own. The smile had faded and, as he had seen it do once
before, her lower lip began to tremble. With as much grace and dignity
as he could muster, Will Andrews opened the door and handed
Sarah into the vehicle. The look she gave him could only be described
as extremely grateful.
His gesture, Will knew, was not lost on the women who stood in
the street and gaped. O
In the bedroom she had occupied for the last four nights, Sarah
removed her hat and gloves and laid them on the dressing table. As
she did so she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. In spite of
the white dress she didn’t think she looked much like a bride. The
dress had been a concession to Elizabeth who had accompanied
her to London to shop for her trousseau. Sarah had wanted to get a
plain linen suit in a pastel shade for her wedding day but Elizabeth
insisted on something white.
“I don’t know whether you’re a virgin or not,” her friend said,
somewhat bluntly for Elizabeth, “and I don’t really care. But every
bride should at least look virginal.”
Sarah laughed and gave her friend a playful shove, but the reference
to her virginity made her remember Danny, and the memory
brought back the old familiar ache.
She had been teaching at a little country school in White Falls
when Danny was killed, and she had come so close to having a
breakdown that she quit her post in the middle of term. Her mother
had seen it as an opportunity to pressure Sarah into giving up her
career and staying at home. Mrs. Roberts could never understand
why her daughter had left in the first place. When Sarah’s father
died her mother expected the girl to stay at home with her remaining
parent. It took all of Sarah’s willpower to insist on the right to…

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0981073530

Older Entries