While Katherine talked, Emma dismounted. She stood at Duke’s head, the reins held loosely in her hand. The anger was still there, but she forced it down, forced herself to speak in a calm voice, like Katherine. “At least listen to what we have to say, Tall Joe,” she said, surprised at the way her anger shrank with every word. “We’ve come all this way to tell you.”
“I can’t believe you would do this to me, Emma. What were you thinking?”
“I did nothing to you, Tall Joe, except try to stop you from making a second mistake. Where’s the harm?”
“You could have gotten lost,” he sputtered. “Or been killed!”
“But I wasn’t, as you can see. And we have good news to share, if you’ll only listen. Katherine, why don’t you show my father the letter?”
Tall Joe stared at her. His beard split in a smile. He blinked as if there was smoke in his eyes.
What happened?
Tall Joe strode over and wrapped her in his arms. Emma didn’t pull back, she didn’t even mind. It was then she realized what had changed between them. For the first time ever, she had called him her father. And it didn’t feel half bad.
“An’ don’t go gettin’ all mushy on me, Tall Joe,” she said, pulling away. “Shall we all sit by the fire and discuss our plans?”
Tall Joe read the letter and handed it to his cousin.
When Edward was reading it, Tall Joe said, “I don’t suppose it will hurt to take a look at this farm.”
“It sounds the perfect set up,” Ned Turner replied, puffing on his pipe. “At my age, I’m ready to choose a degree of comfort and a farm closer to civilization.”
“We’d be closer to Victoria so I can visit my mother and the children,” Edward added.
“Good then. Hurry and eat up those bacon and beans you have cooking,” Katherine said. “We’ve a long way to travel back to Yale.”
“An’ seems like we’ll need to go real slow so’s you men can keep up,” Emma added.
Tall Joe, reaching for the frying pan, stopped and glanced up sharply. Ned Turner leaned forward, puffing black smoke from his pipe. Edward put down the letter, removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair.
Emma’s cheeks grew warm. Her words were meant to tease, but not one of them looked to be laughing. Well, and she had a lot to learn about joking. And families. Friends too.
Then Katherine broke the silence. “We can try, Emma,” she laughed. “But going so slow won’t be easy, and that’s for certain-sure.”
Author’s Note
Taking the Reins grew quite naturally out of two historical novels I wrote several years ago.
The first, The Golden Rose, tells Katherine’s story. In 1862, fourteen-year-old Katherine travels from England to British Columbia with her family. Both Katherine and her sister, Susan, are excited about this big adventure. But once on their land, reality sets in. Susan dies of “Panama Fever,” and the bereaved family attempts to carve a successful farm out of this rugged and untamed new colony. A task that proves too much to bear.
The second novel, Living Freight, is Emma’s story. After her mother dies as a pauper in Manchester, Emma is determined to keep her promise and never let the authorities place her in a workhouse. So Emma sets out on foot for the English countryside and eventually finds herself on the bride ship, Tynemouth, headed for the colony of Vancouver Island.
Taking the Reins answers a question many readers have asked over the years. “What happens next?” I have to admit, I’ve often wondered the same thing myself. And that got me to asking, “What if?”
For those of you who wonder where ideas come from, my answer is simple. For me, most stories begin with those two little words, What if…?
About the Author
Dayle Gaetz is the author of more than twenty books for young readers, including the YA novels Spoiled Rotten, Crossbow and No Problem and two mystery series published by Orca Book Publishers.
She began her writing career on Salt Spring Island, where, alongside publishing sixteen novels, she wrote a column for the local weekly newspaper and articles in children’s magazines.
Dayle’s books have been shortlisted for several Young Readers’ Choice Award programs, including the OLA Silver Birch Award, the Red Cedar, and MYRCA, as well as for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction.
She lives, writes and teaches in Campbell River, BC.
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