Saturday Snippet: She Raced Past the Wagons

Today's Saturday Snippet is taken from 

Kizzie's Kisses

Book 2, Grandma's Wedding Quilts series

 

          The pepperbox pistol her papa had bought for her mama, and which Mima had declared more than once she would never use, Kizzie had tucked into the back of her waistband. She had raised her eyes in gratitude when no one had questioned her about why they couldn’t find it. That three-shot pistol, and the big kitchen knife she had stuck down the side of her work boot were all she dared take for her own protection. The shotgun she had left for Mama and Jesse plus Jesse had his own hunting knife. The rifle Papa had with him, which was why she needed to find him and tell him to forget about any cattle he hadn’t sold yet and come back to protect his family from the Indians.

          Instead of turning Sugarcone loose or tying her to the back of the wagon for the trek east, Kizzie had climbed into the saddle. She had ignored her family members as they called out to her. She had not looked back as she raced Sugarcone past the wagons and down the lane towards the road leading to Junction City, and after that, Fort Riley. 

Please CLICK HERE to find the full book description and purchase link. 

Kizzie's Kisses is Book 2 in the Grandma's Wedding Quilts series. It is also Book 2 in my own Atwell Kin series. Most of the books in the Atwell Kin series are also part of one of the series sponsored by the Sweet Americana Sweethearts blog. Here is how the books line up and the schedule so far:

 

The Atwell Kin series:

Book 0 - Charlie’s Choice (Prequel)
Book 1 - Virginia’s Vocation (also part of Lockets & Lace series)
Book 2 - Kizzie’s Kisses (also part of Grandma’s Wedding Quilts series)
Book 3 - Otto’s Offer (also part of Lockets & Lace series)
Book 4 - Hannah’s Handkerchief – scheduled for release Spring, 2020
Book 5 - Lyman’s Rescue – scheduled for release Spring 2021

Each is a stand-alone sweet romance.

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Saturday Snippet: He Was Her Younger Brother

This excerpt is from my last year's Grandma's Wedding Quilts series book Kizzie's Kisses. This offers some insight into how well Kizzie deferred to male authority:

Kizzie could tell packing the wagon had used up what little reserve of energy Mima had still possessed. She had watched as her mother had crawled into her wagon box next to Meredith and, with a sigh, had leaned back against a stack of bedding. Jessie had climbed into the seat to drive the wagon, settling the shotgun at his feet.

Kizzie gritted her teeth as she recalled how he had barked an order at her just as she had finished handing the jug with the willow bark tea to Grandpa. “Kizzie, make sure the barn and corral are clear then catch up and get in the wagon. We’re leaving now.”

Jesse was her younger brother. Who was he to give her orders?

If you have read Kizzie’s Kisses, please leave a book review on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

Saturday Snippet: It Was Not Going to Happen

This excerpt is from my last year's Grandma's Wedding Quilts series book Kizzie's Kisses.

When her mother hadn’t been looking, under her blue skirt Kizzie had pulled on her trousers she had altered from an old pair previously worn by her father. Her mother might have them turn the remaining cattle loose to fend for themselves, but under no circumstances did she intend to leave Sugarcone behind. Her family might consider it more seemly for a young woman age fifteen to ride in the wagon instead of being seen astride a horse, but Kizzie made other plans. She had quickly decided she would take Sugarcone, the horse she had received for her most recent birthday, to ride after her father and uncle for help. She loved that horse with its soft molasses brown coat sprinkled with a smattering of white hairs that hinted of a brindle somewhere in her pedigree. Although Sugarcone was not a big animal, she was a strong mare with powerful formation, and she was the perfect size for Kizzie to ride.

Kizzie knew she didn’t dare say a word about her plan, or her mother would have insisted it was too dangerous. After all, unlike her cousin, Hannah, the perfect daughter, she had a tendency to do many things her family considered inappropriate for a young woman. She could hear her mother now: It was unseemly for her to ride off by herself. If anyone rode alone to get help, it should be Jesse.

As far as Kizzie was concerned, her little brother riding off on her horse was not going to happen.

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Saturday Snippet: They Took No Human Captives

This excerpt is from my last year's Grandma's Wedding Quilts series book Kizzie's Kisses. In this year’s Lockets & Lace series book, Otto's Offer, I mention the attack by hostile Indians on Salina. Here is part of the scene that describes this actual historical event:

Kizzie reached forward to pat Sugarcone’s neck, a gesture she hoped her young mare would recognize as a thank you. She could sense Sugarcone’s heavy breathing, also. Kizzie had been pushing them both at a dead run ever since she left the family’s farm a few miles east of Salina.

Kizzie involuntarily shuddered as the thought of the danger facing her family along with the rest of the inhabitants of Salina once again skittered through her brain. A rider had raced up to their home to warn them that Indians were attacking the inhabitants to the west of Salina and leaving few, if any, survivors. The men they killed and scalped. The children they pinned to the earth with arrows after dispatching them. As for the women, as the rider had glanced at Kizzie and her mother, Jemima, he cleared his throat and merely said the women were “outraged” before they were killed. Kizzie was not naïve; she had a pretty good idea what constituted an outrage against the women.

This war party was on the move and taking no human captives, only horses. They were moving from the homesteads on the western-most outreaches of Saline County east towards the town of Salina itself. Those who lived west of the town now fled towards Salina, hoping the grouping of crude buildings could afford them some protection. But, the rider who had reached the Atwell farm advised Jemima, better known as Mima, to flee east to Junction City. Since that town was just west of Fort Riley, they had a better chance of protection there.

For those who sign up for my newsletter mailing list using the following link only through March 14, 2018, as a thank you I am offering an ebook version of Kizzie'e Kisses:

https://dl.bookfunnel.com/nmnnui66bh

If you have read Kizzie’s Kisses, please leave a book review on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

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