After All a few pages to whet your appetite!
"Aggie....Aaaaaggggeeeee!" Where was that girl? All her life she was somewhere she shouldn't have been. The sun had risen and hour ago; that should have been plenty of time for her to gather enough wood to start the fire for breakfast.
The year was 1846. Mary shaded her brown eyes against the glare of the morning sun. Squinting, she searched through vast untamed grassland that was continuously buffeted by an inclement wind. Acres of land whose only boundaries were marked by the nearest hill or the distant horizon met her gaze. Mary thought Aggie had likely been distracted by some squirrel or lark, or the river meandering through rolling grassland as the trees bowed to the forces of nature, while offering river trout shade from the sun's peircing rays.
Mary's eyes were too weary to see the beauty surrounding her. Instead, the sound of Mr. Baines stirring from his night's sleep, followed by the creak of the protesting wagon wheel as he clumsily climbed down, reminded Mary of more immediate concerns.
"Damn it woman, where's me coffee?" he snapped as soon as his feet reached the ground.
The tears welled up in Mary's eyes as she wiped a stray long hair from her face to behind her right ear; this wasn't how she had imagined it would be, being married for the second time. This husband was unmannered, his kind words and thoughtfulness disappearing a week into the hastily contrived relationship, vulgarity seeming to have got the better of him. Why, oh why, had she married this man?
An unexpected slap to the side of her head made her stagger, catching her unawares.
"Maybe that'll stop you from daydreaming the morning away! Next time have my coffee ready or it'll be the worse for you and that daughter of your's, you hear me, woman?" he said , leaning forward menacingly, emphasizing his unpleasantness.
"Yes, Mr Baines." Mary dutifully replied while raising a hand to her face, soothing the abrupt slap.
Oh, Lord, not this, she thought, her face stinging and tingling with hurt, her dignity bruised.
She scraped together some sticks she had missed when she first descended the wagon; Aggie had gathered some wood after all. It didn't put Mary's mind to rest as to where the girl was. Using the wood, Mary hastily kindled a fire, thinking, hoping Aggie would turn up, as the smoke arose to meet the morning.
Remembering the slap, Mary began smouldering with injustice and barely concealed anger. While outwardly passsive she continued to prepare the morning meal. Food always made children miraculously appear. Then, once their appetites were temporarily fulfilled they would leave, only to be expected to return when hungry once again.
Though Mary feared Mr. Baines's growing aggression, her spirit refused to be cowed, and when she thought of her daughter's safety, Baines striking Aggie was another matter. That, she would not tolerate.
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Quotes from readers
Sweet little read. I enjoyed the charactures and their postcard lives. The adventure of the book drew me in . I would read it again. "Arlene."
I took the book home, my husband began reading it and stayed up most of the night to finish it. He doesn't like to read so when he said it was good I knew it had to be. I havent read all of the book because my daughter has borrowed it. The half I have read I have thoroughly enjoyed. "Norma."
I began reading After All and was soon hooked. I finished it in a few hours.You become a part of the story. I was completely in awe of the tallented writing, the writen descriptions put you right there and draw you in. I don't normally read "Westerns" but this was well worth the time. "Sandye."
I wasn't sure what to expect while reading my first "Western" but I absolutely loved After All. It was quite a page turner, the ending the best part. I can't wait for the fnext one! "Tiffany."
Title; After All. © Deborah Collins. ISBN 0-615-12886-6. A Emily Richardson Western Novel.