A Distant Dawn

by Jane Peart Narrated by Christine Williams

Overview

Following the death of their parents, twenty-four-year-old Sunniva Lyndall and her younger brother, Tracy, leave the comforts and safety of their Ohio Valley home to travel west to California, With excitement, determination, and the money they received from the sale of the family farm, they head for Missouri and the wagon train that will take them west. But Sunny and her brother quickly learn the ways of the West the hard way when a con-man swindles them out of their money. Without means to buy supplies, California seems out of the question. But being stuck in Missouri is not what Sunny had planned for their future. Employment with the Pony Express seems to be the only available option. With Tracy as express rider and Sunny as station manager, it looks like they will soon earn enough to resume their journey. But unplanned adventure in the saddle of the Express awaits Sunny with the greatest challenge of her young life. Will her strong spirit be enough to see her through -- or is the happiness that California promised a dream that will never be fulfilled?

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170195954
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	10/05/2010
Series:	Westward Dreams , #4
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

A Distant Dawn

Chapter One

Look at that, Sunny!" the boy exclaimed. Sunniva Lyndall turned and read the sign to which her sixteen-year-old brother pointed:

WANTED: Young, skinny, wiry fellows, not over eighteen. Must be expert riders, willing to risk life daily. Orphans preferred. Interested persons should apply at the local Pony Express company.

"Well?" she shrugged. Then as she realized why he wanted her to see it she demanded, "Are you out of your mind, Tracy?"

The eagerness on Tracy's freckled face faded.

"Don't even think about it!" She held up a warning hand to ward off any further reckless enthusiasm.

"Ah, Sunny-," he protested.

"No! Don't say a word! I won't listen!" His sister's hazel eyes flashed. "You want to get killed before we even get to California?"

She moved away but he grabbed her arm. "Wait just a durn minute, Sunny! We're flat broke, remember? You got a better idea?"

Feeling sick dismay sweep over her at his reminder of their predicament, Sunny spoke more sharply than she intended. "No, I don't have a better idea at the moment, but I'll think of something." As an afterthought, she added, "And you watch your language, young man, you hear?" She walked on. Then, realizing he wasn't following, she stopped and looked back. Her brother was still standing there, hands thrust into his pockets, making a circle in the dusty street with the toe of his boot.

"Come on, Tracy," she called impatiently. For a long moment, Tracy remained staring at the poster. "Come on!" she repeated with increasing irritability.

Reluctantly and slowly her brother moved, mumbling under his breath. Sunny bit her lower lip in irritation. Weren't things bad enough without her having to deal with his childishness? To make matters worse, she was to blame for their plight! Blatantly swindled, out of money, stranded in a Missouri border town. Temporarily, at least. Surely when she found the sheriff of this town, explained what had happened ...

How stupid she had been to trust that blackguard Colin Faraday. The whole sorry scene that had taken place on the train on their way here came back to Sunny in vivid detail.

It had seemed such a good plan, a great adventure, when they had set out from their small Ohio Valley community. Filled with excitement and high hopes, they boarded the train to Independence, Missouri. Even the name was significant to them. It was the "jumping-off place" to the West. There they would join one of the many wagon trains heading to California, where they would homestead and make their fortune.

Sunny remembered how optimistic they were but how hopelessly inexperienced in the ways of the world.

On the train, they encountered an affable fellow traveler. Seated across the aisle from them, he introduced himself as Colin Faraday and soon engaged them in conversation. He seemed so interested in them, asking them many questions about where they were from, where they were going. His pleasant personality, his jolly laugh, and his self-assured manner soon won their confidence. They found themselves telling him their plans, their hopes for the future.

"Well now, if that ain't the best kind of luck. A sure enough example of being in the right place at the right time-and being the right man!" he said with a broad wink. "I don't know how many times I been on this same train and met up with folks like you going west. I have great admiration for people with that kind of dreams"-he leaned closer-"and I'm in the business of making them come true. Leastways, helpin' make them come true." He lowered his voice. "But you gotta be careful about gettin' your wagon, your mules or oxen, your supplies. ... The merchants and storekeepers at these towns where the wagon trains set out from are like foxes, ready to devour unsuspecting emigrants like yourselves. Not that you ain't got a good head on your shoulders, no siree bob. I seen that right away. You, young lady, and this here young man, I could tell you know where it's at, but ..." He shook his head. "Heard some ad tales of folks bein'-" a worried look crossed his face-"well, unless you know what you're doin'..."

At his words, Sunny suddenly felt the full weight of what they had done. Buoyed with enthusiasm, she had ignored all the warnings, relatives' dire predictions of the hazards of the undertaking. It was she who had read the glowing Emigrants Handbook from cover to cover, committing to memory just what they would need to purchase to become part of one of the wagon trains going west. Her hands clutched her small purse, in which was most of the cash they had received from the sale of the house, the furniture, the cow, their three horses. This was the first time since they had left home that she felt she might have taken on more than she could handle. Now the fear that she might not be able to choose wisely, make good assessment of value on buying a wagon, trust the merchants to deal fairly, made her weak with apprehension.

"Isn't there someone we could talk to, someone to consult?" Sunny had asked Faraday in a faltering voice.

"Yes, ma'am, there sure is!" Mr. Faraday laughed heartily. He jabbed his thumb into his chest. "You're looking right at him."

Faraday proceeded to tell them that he was willing to do for them what he'd done for countless others starting out to the new part of the country.

"More than willin'," he assured them. Then he explained how he could procure their "outfit"-wagon, mules, and other necessary equipment-for them and save them from being cheated by unscrupulous suppliers who fed off the ignorant. "That is very kind of you, Mr. Faraday. But I don't know whether we should impose on your goodwill. Won't that take a great deal of trouble and time for you? From your own business in Fairfax City?" Sunny was torn by her natural reluctance to rely on a stranger. However, the relief of turning over the responsibility to someone more knowledgeable than she to outfit them for the journey west was greater.

"Well, ma'am, I took to you and this young fellow the minute I set eyes on you both. I sez to myself, sez I, now there's a pair of fine, upstanding, ambitious young people ready to face the future and expand this great country of ours. It would be a pleasure-no, let's say a downright honor-to assist such a couple."

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from A Distant Dawn by Jane Peart Copyright © 1995 by Zondervan. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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