The Preacher and the Pariah: A Western Historical Mail Order Bride Romance (The Family Affair Series Book 2) by Emma Harper

Author:Emma Harper [Harper, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2017-06-10T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Two

The passage to Louisiana wasn’t that difficult for Kate Tiverton, despite the bitter cold of December. She knew just the right paths to take in order to bypass any prairie pirates, and she also had the security of having two loaded weapons at her side. Kate not only had a knack for riding a horse, but she loved the feeling of freedom that it gave her, so she was able to ride for hours on end. In fact, she cherished that last breath of freedom before it was all going to come to an end as she faced the worst kind of prison.

Her jailor was named Tabitha Fitzsimmons.

Ida expressly ordered that Kate hole herself up into a little town called Abigail Falls, where Mrs. Fitzsimmons was going to transform Kate into a Southern belle in less than two days. This would be no small undertaking for any woman to accomplish, but when it came to Kate Tiverton, the task was going to require the grace of God.

“Heavens.” Tabitha said as she opened the door to her modest Southern estate and saw her ‘project’ for the first time. “You must be Kate Tiverton.” She said with a gracious smile, although there was disbelief behind her eyes.

“That would be right,” Kate said, tipping her hat in the fashion that usually men would greet a lady. “You’re Tabitha.” She said.

“That’s me.” She said with a bright smile. Despite being quite along in age, Tabitha Fitzsimmons dressed like a ruffle-covered, petticoated 25-year-old lady, and she could still pull it off. Her cheeks were heavily rouged, and her hair fell to the sides of her face in ringlets. “Let's get started because there ain’t much time,” Tabitha said, ushering Kate into her finely upholstered, perfumed home.

The learning curve was steep and painful, and it started with Tabitha scrutinizing every word that came out of Kate’s mouth. She taught her to make her voice more soft and lovely, and when she felt like she had something to say, Tabitha instructed her to not say a thing at all. Kate learned how to smile pretty, and how to pinch her cheeks to give her some color when there was no rouge around to make an artificial improvement. Kate was also given many dresses, all of which were in pastel colors like pink, mint green, baby blue, and sunshine yellow.

“God help me!” Kate wailed as Tabitha tightened her corset. “Ain’t it tight enough?”

“Not yet,” Tabitha replied calmly and tightened the strings once again.

“These shoes are so tiny,” Kate said, marveling at the little, delicate shoe with a braided tassel that was handed to her.

“You’ll squeeze into it,” Tabitha replied.

“What if I never get them off again?” Kate asked, genuine fear in her eyes.

“Well then, I guess you’ll just have to sleep in them,” Tabitha replied.

Once she was properly attired, Tabitha went to work on Kate’s hair and face. When she inspected both of them with her hands on Kate’s cheeks, a look of despair came over her face.

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