Wildflowers: A Western Historical Mail Order Bride Romance (Petticoats and Pistols Series Book 5) by Emma Harper

Author:Emma Harper [Harper, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2017-05-02T04:00:00+00:00

THE END

Beneath an Ocean of Sky

Chapter One

Martha Kendall woke up early like she did every morning. She went out to the barn to check on the ponies, gathered the eggs and then went back to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for her family. She went and looked in on her mother, Helen who had been sick with influenza for the past couple of weeks. Her mother’s breathing was labored but sounded somewhat improved from the day before. Martha put a cold rag on her forehead to bring down her fever as Helen stirred in her sleep. Then, she went to turn off the teakettle that had begun to whistle in the kitchen.

There was a time when the family had some help around the farm, but the low yields of the past couple of seasons had made it impossible for them to keep the stable hand and cook that used to work there. Oklahoma, where their farm was located was slowly moving out of the dustbowl years, and things were only slightly improved. Martha’s siblings had all left to start their own lives, although the youngest brother, David was due to return from college very soon. He swore that he would help out around the farm at least long enough to get them back on their feet.

As Martha looked at herself in the mirror, she thought of her two older sisters. Gina, the oldest had married Tom Harper three years ago. Tom was a well to do businessman that lived in St. Louis. Although she still wrote frequent letters to her mother and returned for holidays, she had truly moved on with her life. Lillian, the middle child, was considered by many to be the most beautiful Kendall daughter. She had married Robert Gordon, another prosperous man that own several banks in far-off New York. Ever since her wedding a year ago, she had not been back to see the family, even after hearing that her mother had become ill. Martha looked at her large, hazel eyes. She untied her long brown hair and let it fall around her shoulders.

Aren’t I beautiful enough for a suitor? She asked herself. Being shy and soft-spoken, she always seemed to fade into the background, unlike her gregarious sisters. There was a part of her that resented Lillian and Gina for leaving her here and assuming that she would take care of the family, doomed to be a spinster. Now that she was twenty-two, she knew that she was in her prime and prayed each night for her chance to finally come. A few suitors had tried to gain her favor. These men had been chased off by her father, Daniel who was prone to bouts of alcohol abuse when times were hard. Just before she became ill, Daniel actually struck his wife, Helen in a drunken fit.

All of these thoughts ran through Martha’s mind as she went back outside to continue working on the farm. Her father was cleaning out the stables after having slept in a little longer than normal due to a hangover.

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