Welcome back to Sweet Saturday Samples!
Let's take a look at two of Marie Owen's brothers in this snippet from Chapter 3 of Spinster's Folly:
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The noon stop couldn't come fast enough to suit her. It would be a welcome relief from the sun and the dust and the flies. Marie wiped her sweaty, dusty forehead with the back of her hand, then realized it was tender to the touch. Sunburned, she thought. That's my own folly. She sent Bess into a bit more speed to rejoin the herd, wishing she'd thought to borrow a hat, or at least, to bring her sunbonnet.
An hour later, Rod Owen did call a halt for dinner when the company came upon a stream with a pebbled bottom. After the boys watered the steers in the stream, they drove them up the southern bank and onto a grassy area. Then they watered all the horses and picketed them nearby on the grass.
Marie opened the saddlebags, spread a cloth on the bank, and put out tin plates and cups for her father, her brothers, and herself. She unwrapped the cornbread and beef she and Ma had prepared and put a portion of each on the plates. Then she went to the creek, upstream from the place they'd crossed, and dipped a bucket into the water.
She had almost carried it back to the eating area when Albert swooped in, snatched the bucket, and poured the water over himself.
As he wiped the water from his eyes, Marie cried out, "You oaf! That's drinkin' water!"
"Works just as well to cool me off," he said in a sneering tone, shaking himself like a dog to make Marie wet.
"Bertie, I'll get you," she cried, and picked up the bucket to hurl at him.
Rulon restrained her arm, and thrust the container into Albert's stomach. "Fetch clean water," he barked. "Now."
"Ah, you're no fun." Albert rubbed his abused belly. "You sound just like Pa, orderin' me about."
Rulon and Albert are certainly different! Thank you for visiting. Come back every Saturday for more samples. Now, use this list to go to other blogs for more Sweet Saturday Samples. Enjoy!
Love this! Great interaction between siblings. Great details about the setting, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pat. I've lived with their squabbling for so long that I thought I'd best include some of it in the book. LOL!
DeleteI thoroughly enjoyed this scene. So realistic with lots of detail: how they took care of the animals first, how the siblings interacted, how Rulon took charge. Great excerpt.
ReplyDeleteThat's frontier wisdom for you: when you're selling beeves, or depending on your horses, you take care of their needs before your own. I'll feature Rulon in the next book about the Owen family.
DeleteThanks for visiting, Sandy.
Ha ha, this is great. Love how you used the water bucket to enhance the playfulness of the scene. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gwen. The devil is in the details, as they say.
DeleteI felt the heat, Marsh. The cool water, too. I would have used the stream to cool off with instead of just a bucket of water, but then that's the girly in me, I guess!
ReplyDeleteNext time, Albert will probably jump in the stream instead of grabbing Marie's bucket. Except he hasn't learned how to stay out of trouble yet, so maybe not!
DeleteThanks for visiting, Debra.
It made me want to stick my toes in the cool water and enjoy a picnic with the Owens clan! Thanks for the fun read!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Betsy! Thanks for coming over and reading. I'd love to put my toes into that stream, too, and just listen to the byplay among the family members.
DeleteGreat characters! I love your writing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rachel! Coming from such an awesome writer, that's high praise.
DeleteMarsha, this scene is very visual. Some days I'd love a pail of water dumped on my head. Not today though. Tina Scott
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tina. So would I, in summertime, LOL!
DeleteGreat scene. Lots of impact and gives us a chance to get a good glimpse at Marie
ReplyDeleteYes, Lindsay, here you see the dutiful daughter of that era. No folly there, except, as she tells us, she forgot her sunbonnet and is paying the price of that neglect. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteVery fun read. thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and reading, Julie!
DeleteVery good scene. I was right there and even felt a few drops of water on me!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tanya! I appreciate that.
DeleteYou always pull me right into the scene! Nice. And I have brothers like that, too. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat details, Marsha!! I was actually on that dusty hot prairie with Marie. Love it!
ReplyDelete