Series: I traveled four thousand miles across the ocean and two thousand miles across the prairie to marry Liam Callahan, Kathleen said, stepping off the stagecoach in Baker City, Oregon.

Part 1 The tall man waiting on the dust-swept platform did not hand her a wedding bouquet. He handed her a signed marriage contract bearing [more…]

The small timber cabin smelled of damp earth and something acrid-sweet from the medicine bottles crowding Liam’s bedside table. I leaned closer, my fingers brushing [more…]

The next morning, Baker City awoke to a paper storm. As I walked down Main Street towards Higgins’ General Store, my eyes were drawn to [more…]

Liam’s cough grew steadily worse, a rasping sound that echoed through the small cabin. I spent my days concocting soothing herbal teas from the roots [more…]

The morning fog still clung to the peaks when a rider approached the homestead, kicking up a plume of dust. It was Caleb Marsh, the [more…]

The next afternoon, I walked back into Higgins’ General Store, feigning an interest in household cleaning supplies. The store was blessedly empty. “Mr. Higgins,” I [more…]

A note arrived, delivered by a solemn-faced boy, requesting my presence behind the Methodist church. It was signed by Clara Callahan. Reluctantly, I went. Clara [more…]

I found Sean staring into the glowing embers of the hearth, his shoulders slumped. The news of the frozen timber and Clara’s audacious bribe had [more…]

The county office was a cramped, dusty room filled with ledgers and maps. Caleb Marsh sat hunched over a desk, his spectacles perched on his [more…]

Caleb Marsh arrived at the Callahan homestead the following afternoon, not in his formal suit, but in plain riding clothes, his presence unnoticed by Clara, [more…]