The Frasers-Clay

Chapter One

Independence, Missouri

1865

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Elliott, but I don't allow any woman to join the wagon train who is not accompanied by an adult male member of her family."

"But Mr. Scott, I don't need a man's help. I can drive my own wagon. I often drove the bakery wagon back home in Vermont," Rebecca said.

"A woman alone creates other considerations, ma'am. Delicate ones."

"Such as?"

"It's a long journey, ma'am, at least four months, or as many as six if we run into trouble. In that length of time, a man..." He looked away and cleared his throat. "Let us say, a single woman can become a distraction to a man, whether he's single or married. The married women prefer that their husbands are not subjected to that kind of temptation."

Rebecca was getting angrier by the minute. "Mr. Scott, I'm a widow. My husband was killed during the war and I'm still grieving his loss. I am not interested in...in attracting other men, particularly another woman's husband. All I want to do is get to California and join my brother."

"Then why not go by sea? A sea journey is much safer for a woman alone."

"And takes almost a year, sir."< ... read full excerpt from The Frasers-Clay ebook