Ah, the apple. It has been discussed from being
labeled as the temptation used by the snake in the Garden of Eden to being
glorified as the fruit that insures health—“An apple a day keeps the doctor
away”. Martin Luther is reputed to have said, “If I knew the world would end
tomorrow, I would still plant an apple tree today.” We’ve probably all watched
the Disney cartoon of Johnny Appleseed, John Chapman, who planted hundreds of
apple trees in the Midwest.
In fact, I’m a fan of most apples. For many years, my
husband and I owned an orchard containing hundreds of peach trees, six plum
trees, four pear trees, numerous grape vines, one pecan tree, and about twenty
apple trees—one of which was a Granny Smith and one a crabapple. The other
eighteen were Golden Delicious apples.
I have to admit I’m relieved we’ve sold that land and
no longer have to spray, prune trees, and harvest fruit. I loved canning the
fruit and making jelly and preserves, though. There is some sort of nature’s
rules that the busier you are at any given time, however, the more likely it is
that fruit or vegetables need to be canned that very day. ☺
When I drew Washington as the state for my
contribution to the American Mail-Order Bride Series, I immediately thought of
those Red Delicious Washington apples that arrive in the stores each fall. I
like other varieties, but Red Delicious is my favorite. That’s the variety
Santa always placed in my stocking at Christmas. I didn’t taste any other
variety until Hero and I were married and he introduced me to Granny Smith
apples. Now we eat whichever looks freshest at the grocers.
Pruning and harvesting fruit is a labor intensive
activity for which seasonal laborers were required before mechanization. Due to
the fact that fruit bruises, care must still be exercised when picking. A
hundred years ago, even more families traveled from crop to crop than now, a
hard life indeed.
Unless you’re operating an organic orchard, spraying
is frequent to discourage bacterial rot and other diseases. Organic requirements
vary from state to state, and sometimes are not stringent. The Pacific
Northwest does have good guidelines for organic, but that’s a new thing.
Nineteenth century orchards did whatever was required to produce a good crop.
No farmer could afford to risk the crop that feeds his family.
This year, sadly, horrible fires decimated orchards
that had been continuously producing for over a hundred years. The area about
which I wrote in PATIENCE, BRIDE OF WASHINGTON, was destroyed. How terrible orchards
that had been in the same family for generations were turned to ashes. I hope
the families were able to start over, bolstered by hope and a love for the
land.
My friend Jacquie Rogers and I decided our brides
would be sisters. I chose Patience as the name of my heroine and Jacquie chose
Mercy, named after her daughter Mercedes.
Patience’s book will be released on December 30th and Mercy’s
book will be released on December 31st.
Patience and Mercy weren’t convinced to be mail-order
brides by their former coworker. In fact, their father decided that leaving the
mill town of Lawrence, Massachusetts was their only chance at a happy life and
security. He wrote to the matchmaker on their behalf and only revealed that
he’d done so when their prospective grooms answered.
Here’s the blurb for PATIENCE, BRIDE OF WASHINGTON:
After a fire destroys the factory where Patience Eaton
worked followed by a succession of job failures, she travels from Massachusetts
to Washington to marry the man her father chose via a matchmaker. While Andrew
Kincaid appears to be a very nice man, he’s older than her father and not
someone she wants to marry. Her prospective groom places her in a respectable
boarding house and agrees to give her a job in the office of his commercial
apple orchard so she can learn about his life and business. But working
alongside her handsome future stepson presents unexpected complications.
Two years ago, an unjust accusation ruined Stone
Kincaid’s chance at happiness. Now he concentrates all his energy on building
the family business. When he meets his prospective stepmother, he’s angry that
his father cares so little for his mother’s memory that he sent for a
mail-order bride younger than Stone. He
believes Patience to be interested only in his father’s fortune. Stone plans to
keep an eye on the attractive woman who’s slated to become his stepmother.
Can two people working at cross purposes arrive at a
compromise?
Here’s an excerpt from PATIENCE, BRIDE OF WASHINGTON:
On an April evening, Moses Eaton addressed
his daughters. “Several months ago, you brought home something called the Grooms’ Gazette. I saved the copy. After
your letter from your friend Roberta, I wrote to the matchmaker, Elizabeth
Miller.”
Her father handed each of them a letter.
“These are in answer. You will each leave on the same train, so you’ll travel
together until Mercy leaves at a place called Nampa, Idaho.”
Mercy’s eyes grew wide. “Idaho? T-That’s
all the way across the country.”
Patience scanned the paper she held and
her heart broke. “Not as far as Washington. Papa, we’ll never see you and Mama
and the boys again. I know we’ve upset you but please don’t send us away in
disgrace.”
Mama said, “Girls, you’ve got everything
wrong. Your father is only looking out for you two. You know how hopeless
situations here are. We love you so much, he wants you provided for and
secure.”
Papa smiled at Mama then looked at
Patience and Mercy. “Your mother is correct. There are more women here than
there are jobs—or suitable men to marry. The way things are in Lawrence, you
can’t earn a good wage even if you find a position. My teacher’s salary barely
stretches.” He held up his hand. “We’d manage somehow if there were prospects
for you here.”
He rose and paced. “Each of your
prospective grooms is well-to-do and can offer you a nice home and security.
Perhaps you can even travel back here for a visit from time to time.”
Patience re-read the letter from Andrew
Kincaid. “He sounds nice, and he enclosed a ticket and money for meals. He said
I’d have a month to get acquainted before the wedding.”
“Mr. Isaac Fairchild says the same.” A
frown furrowed Mercy’s lovely face as she looked up from the sheets of paper in
her hand. “But Idaho is so far.”
“But it’s close to Washington. We can
probably visit back and forth.” Patience tried for a positive attitude, but
neither she nor her sister had ever been away from their parents or one
another.
Her brothers clomped into the room.
Twelve-year-old Jason looked at the
adults. “Why’s everyone so serious? What’s going on?”
Papa patted ten-year-old David on the head
and smiled at Jason. “Your sisters are deciding whether or not to accept
marriage proposals.”
Jason held out his hands. “Tell us who
proposed?”
Holding up her letter, Patience gazed at
her two brothers. “Papa wrote to a matchmaker, a woman who arranges marriages.
Mercy and I have answers. Her groom is in Idaho and mine in Washington.”
Jason rose to look at the globe where it
sat on a table by the window. “That’s a long way from here. When would you
leave?”
Mercy consulted the letter. “In five days.
Oh, my, we have a lot to accomplish before then.”
Ticking off on her fingers, Patience
listed, “We’ll each need a trunk and a valise. Let our friends know how to
write us. Do the laundry so everything is clean.”
“And we can’t share things since we’ll be in
different places.” Mercy rose to get a sheet of paper from Papa’s desk. “We’d
better make lists.”
Later in the bed they shared, Mercy said, “I
can’t believe Papa wrote away without consulting us. I don’t know whether to be
relieved or angry or sad.”
“I’m a little of all those. Thank heavens
I never again have to work for a man with lecherous thoughts. I’ll miss our
family, but I’ll have my own home and soon my own children.”
“You’re right. Oh, I hope we like our grooms-to-be.
Mine lives on a ranch. I hope he’s handsome and strong and rides a white
horse.”
Patience reminded her sister, “I remember
that Roberta said Miss Miller investigates the grooms before she’ll send a
bride to them. She works with agents all over the country. Even if the men are
not ideal, at least we know they’re not criminals or drunkards.”
“Four days to get ready and on the fifth,
we leave. We’ll ride on a train and see the country and then we’ll meet our
grooms. How can you not be more enthusiastic?”
Pulling the cover under her chin, Patience
admitted, “I’m kind of excited. I’ve never ridden on a train or been out of
Massachusetts.”
“Ha, we’ve never been out of Lawrence.
That’s going to change.”
About the
author:
Caroline Clemmons is an Amazon
bestselling and award winning author of historical and contemporary western
romances. A frequent speaker at conferences and seminars, she has taught
workshops on characterization, point of view, and layering a novel.
Caroline and her husband live in
the heart of Texas cowboy country with their menagerie of rescued pets. When
she’s not indulging her passion for writing, Caroline enjoys family, reading,
travel, antiquing, genealogy, painting, and getting together with friends. Find
her on her blog,
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