A Place to Call Their Own
Spotlight Post
I am happy to
announce that the Second Edition of A
Place to Call Their Own is available from JMS Books, LLC and other online
retailers.
Blurb
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 wishes.
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.
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In celebration
of the release of A Place to Call Their
Own, I am giving away a copy of my novel, Disappear With Me.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
About
Dean Pace-Frech
With inspiration from
historical tourism sites, the love of reading, and a desire to write a novel, Dean
Dean lives in Kansas City,
Missouri with his husband, Thomas (legally as of February 14, 2015),
and our two cats. They are involved in their church and enjoy watching movies, outdoor
activities in the warmer weather and spending time together with friends and family. In addition to writing,
Dean’s hobbies include
Dean
is currently working a standalone title, Need Your Love, set in 1966,
and The Higher Law, a continuation of the story of Frank and Gregory’s
family set in the 1930s.
Connect with Dean Pace-Frech
Email deanfrech@aol.com
Blog: Dean's Web Site
Twitter: @deanpacefrech
Google+: +deanpacefrech
Goodreads: Dean Pace-Frech
Pinterest: Dean Pace-Frech
Thanks for having me today!
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