A
Place to Call Their Own will be released by JMS Books, LLC
on May 24! Isn’t the new cover awesome?
To request a
review copy, please email me at deanfrech@aol.com. I will send review copies when they are
available.
Want to chat
about A Place to Call Their Own? Let’s
use #APTCTO on social media!
Here’s a bit more about #APTCTO:
Is it possible for the two Civil War veterans to
find their place in the world on the Kansas Prairie?
Frank Greerson and
Gregory Young have been discharged from the Army and are headed to their
childhood homes. They both defied their parents in 1861 when they joined the
Army. After battling southern rebels and preserving the Union of the United
States of America, the two men set out to battle the Kansas Prairie and build a
life together. Once they find their claim, they encounter common obstacles to
life on the Kansas Prairie in 1866:
Native Americans, tornadoes, wild animals, and weather.
When a prairie fire
destroys their crops and takes their neighbor’s lives, Frank and Gregory are
instructed to find their young son’s aunt. Faced with leaving a destroyed
claim, the railroad coming through their land, and dwindling funds, Frank and
Gregory must decide whether to leave the place they have worked hard to make
their own or fulfill their friends' dying wish.
Excerpt:
“You two
together, or…” Mr. McAvoy asked with a puzzled look on his face.
Mrs. McAvoy
raised an eyebrow, also curious about the situation.
Gregory gave
Frank a nervous and mischievous look and answered, “Ah, yes, sir. We planned to
each get a claim and build one house for now, help each other out.”
The answer
seemed to satisfy both Mr. and Mrs. McAvoy. “That sounds like a good idea. It’d
be nice to have a few neighbors around to help with things once in a while. And
what I wouldn’t give to have had just one other man to help me with some of the
house building and stable. You stay around here, and you’ll need a stable.
Wolves and coyotes will get your livestock if you don’t.”
“How did you
protect yourself before? This stuff doesn’t get built in a day.” Gregory asked.
“It takes ’em a
while to figure out you’re here. And of course, it’s worse in the winter than
this time of year. They haven’t been quite so bad the last few weeks, have
they?” he directed to his wife.
“No, they calmed
down. Hopefully they’ve been preying on the deer that are eating my potato
plants.” answered Mrs. McAvoy. “You two want to stay for supper? I’ve got a big
pot of rabbit stew on the stove.”
“It’ll be good,
I promise. She’s done great cooking whatever I can find for us,” Mr. McAvoy
added.
Gregory ignored
the invitation. “How’s the hunting around here? You do good during the winter
months?”
“Yeah, in the
fall it’s the best—the animals are all fat and sassy from the summer. You can
tell the bucks from the does, and you don’t have to worry about orphaning a
young deer like you do now. There are plenty of rabbits and prairie chickens right
now. You can find squirrels…”
“And the
meadowlarks do fine, too, in a pinch,” piped in Mrs. McAvoy. “Now, what about
supper?”
“We appreciate
the offer, ma’am,” Frank spoke up. “But we’re just trying to find us our claims
and be done with traveling. We’ve been traveling nearly six weeks now. It has
been that long since we had a decent home-cooked meal, but we need to keep
moving on today.”
They both
remembered the last time they joined anyone for dinner. The McAvoys seemed
harmless, but Frank and Gregory were both a bit shy about joining anyone else
at this point.
“Yeah, we’re
getting close to where we want to settle,” Gregory added. “We appreciate the
offer and all, but we just want to keep moving.”
Mrs. McAvoy
smiled, turned, and ran into the house with her load of laundry. Neither Frank
nor Gregory knew if she was hurt because they declined the supper invitation or
just needed to get back to her household chores.
“We understand
that. Took us nearly six months to get here from New York, where we come from.
We stayed with some relatives along the way, but the missus did appreciate it
when we finally stopped here.”
“Well, we
appreciate your hospitality and all your help. We should probably get going,”
Frank said, glancing at Gregory.
“If you happen
to end up around here, don’t be strangers. Just let us know where you’re at,”
Mr. McAvoy replied.
“It’s a deal,
sir,” Frank said and extended his hand.
Mr. McAvoy
walked over and took it. After they were done, McAvoy stepped away from the
wagon.
Gregory slapped the
reins and yelled “giddyap,” and the horses sprang forward.
A frantic Mrs.
McAvoy yelled from inside the house, “Wait!”
Frank grabbed
Gregory’s arm to stop him. Gregory pulled back on the reins.
Mrs. McAvoy came
out of the cabin with a small basket covered with flour sack cloth.
“This here isn’t
much, but maybe it will allow you to rest once you stop for the night. I put
two crocks of my stew in there and part of the bread I baked for our supper
tonight. I don’t know why I did it, but something told me to make extra bread
today.”
“We’re mighty
obliged, ma’am. This will help. Now we don’t have to worry about hunting
anything for our dinner. We’ll just warm this by the fire and be ready to go,”
Gregory spoke up.
“Yes, ma’am. We
are getting a bit worn out by this trip,” Frank said. He grinned at Gregory and
said, “Hopefully, we’ll be finding our home soon.”
Both men tipped
their hats once more, and Gregory got the horses going again.
Dove and Daisy
lumbered along for the rest of the afternoon and into the early evening. Before
they realized it, the wagon climbed a gentle, gradual grade. The early evening
sun blinded them as they reached the crest of the ridge. At the top, Frank
looked over his shoulder where the wagon had just been. There he saw the trail
left by the wagon and horses in the prairie grass. To the west, a line of trees
indicated a creek, river, or some sort of waterway. The sun drenched the entire
landscape in its golden hue. He looked at Gregory, and they both knew this was
their new home. They had arrived on the homestead.
“Welcome home,
Frankie!” Gregory yelled at the top of his lungs.
