Porcelain White (Book 1)

Chapter One

face. He jumped on the buckboard and steered the wagon out of town.

Isaiah Grant slumped into the chair, realizing he now has to come up with a way to pay for the bottle of whiskey and a train ticket to Redwood, Minnesota.

"You owe me for a bottle of whiskey," said the bartender and shoved a broom at him.

* * *

"Please, Papa, No, Please don't make me leave. I don't want to get married. I want to stay here with Ma and Ben and you. Please don't make me get married."

Isabel stared at her Pa and blinked back tears at the thought of leaving Ben and her mother and the mountain and their home. She had traveled only a few times to Calabash and never any farther. Fears of never seeing her family or the valley loomed in the back of her mind.

"I don't want to live in town. I don't have any clothes for a town, and they will laugh at me. I can't read and write, and I wouldn't know how to be a wife to a soldier in the army. Please, Pa. Don't' make me."

Ever since Isaiah came home with the news that Isabel was to be a mail-order bride to Captain Pichon, Isabel had screamed and cried in protest. The ideas of running away and living in the cave with her Ma raced through her mind.

She even considered running away to live with her ma's friend Grandma Red Bear at the Sioux encampment to the north of their cabin.

"Don't you see this is your chance to start your own life," cajoled Pa. "I don't want you growing up and becoming afraid of people like your ma and never learning to read and write beyond what your ma can teach you. Besides, I can't afford to keep you. I'm taking Ben with me to the lumber camp next spring to work. 'Bout time that boy starts working like a man and earning his keep."

Ben overheard his dad's biting remarks. At age fifteen, he had always worked hard to provide the family with meat using his self-taught hunting and trapping skills; he chopped wood and took care of his chores every day. His dad's words stung. To have his dad think that he was not pulling his weight around the homestead left a sour taste in his mouth.

The tall, lanky, blond boy slipped out to the barn to escape the tension and fighting in the cabin. He didn't want Isabel to leave, and he did not like the idea of working at the lumber camp next spring. Pa never even asked him what he wanted.

"Why can't things stay the same? Our life is peaceful when papa goes and works for a season and comes back for a few days to bring supplies. I can take care of Isabel and Ma. I am going to make darn sure pa knows that before he takes off again. Why now? Why send Isabel away?"

Tears ran down Ben's cheeks as he stood in the silence of the barn, trying to understand his father.

Ellie Grant had spent the day foraging for herbs to dry. Walking had helped her clear her head, and she loved the quiet solitude of the woods. She knew Isabel would have supper started, and every day she thanked her lucky stars for the help and the comfort her children provided to her.

As Ellie approached the yard in front of the house, she overheard Isabel and her father fighting in the cabin. She pushed open the door in disbelief to what she was hearing.

"Why would you have her marry a soldier after what happen to this family?" spat Ellie Grant at her husband.

Isaiah looked at his wife with no answer. Then, he slammed his hands on the

table and said, "Enough. I am the head of this household, and Isabel will be getting on the train to be a mail-order bride to Captain Pichon, and that is final."