Archive for November, 2010
Working Title – The Silver Queen – Chapter 5 Draft
Written by Rocky Mountain Woman on November 27, 2010 – 10:30 am -
When Matthew got back with her supplies and seeds, it helped distract Celeste from watching John prepare to leave. He had loaded the wagon with supplies and planned on taking Babe and Homer this time. Although Celeste worried about John leaving before the spring storms had finished dumping snow, she understood he had to go work the claim. John and the men working with him were experienced miners. They would wrestle a fortune from the mountain.
On a crisp morning in late April, when the sun had barely started to rise, John and his little wagon train set out. He left Charger for Celeste so she would have transportation and because she had lined up a few mares to breed him to.
The days passed in caring for the girls and the mares. One morning late in May she decided to build a fence to keep the deer from the area that she planned on planting her garden in when the weather finally settled down. Between the rabbits and the deer, it would be all but impossible to harvest anything, but Celeste was so hungry for fresh vegetables, she wanted to try. She spent the next few weeks building a fence from boards left over from building the café. It wasn’t an especially beautiful fence, but it looked as though it would keep out the deer.
In June she planted corn, beans, spinach and several kinds of lettuce. If she could harvest one or two salads from it, the work would be justified.
One afternoon while the girls napped, Celeste went out to work in her little garden. It seemed as though as soon as she pulled a weed, three more came up in its place. A rabbit invaded her fence and startled her. She stood up abruptly and got so dizzy that she had to sit back down. She sat for a few minutes shocked by the realization she had almost lost consciousness, afraid to stand up.
Finally, she walked slowly back into the café and up the steps to her room. She lay down on the bed and tried to figure why it had happened. It wasn’t hot outside and she hadn’t been working too hard when she got dizzy. A flash of understanding brought her upright in bed and she said out loud, “I’m pregnant!”
She had been so busy, she had missed the early signs and now her body was telling her to slow down a little for the baby’s sake. Celeste smiled to herself, maybe John would finally get the son he so desperately wanted. The girls had been such a joy and really no trouble at all. Three would probably make life a little harder, but she loved being a mother.
Celeste slowed down her pace somewhat. She had more time since only a few customers still came in to eat. Most were up in the mountains looking for silver.
Posted in She Writes | 5 Comments »THANKFUL
Written by Rocky Mountain Woman on November 24, 2010 – 1:07 pm -I am thankful that November is almost over so I won’t have to drag my butt out of bed at the crack of dawn to write anymore! I’ve learned a lot this month though:
1. I am really really lazy
2. I am a slow writer
3. I like to write, but I love to cook!
4. I hate winter
5. I have to do something about my hair, seriously…
6. Horses get really angry when you don’t feed them on time
7. Wine and popcorn is not a good substitute for dinner
8. I love butter
9. I really need to go on a diet – see #7 & #8
10. Writing is hard
I am also extremely grateful that I don’t have to go to work today. This is what my driveway looks like
Yikes…
After this month, I plan on continuing to write this book, but probably not every single morning. Starting December 1, I plan to work on some character sketches for the novel (thanks, Pondside!). I may or may not post them (any suggestions?), but I think if I get to know the characters better, they will be more believeable. I am looking forward to getting back to puttering around in the kitchen (maybe a cookbook should be the next project?), finding lots of great new wines for you guys to try (hiccup!), getting back to writing the ongoing saga of my battle with the idiot I hired to build my house, and running down celebs with my pickup (Sundance is next month…Arggg…)
Anyway, I’m thankful you all stuck with me and still showed up on Thursday and even read some of my very amateur novel (creative writing class, maybe?)
I love you guys and hope you have a great Holiday season!
xxoo,
RMW
Posted in She Shoots | 28 Comments »Working Title – The Silver Queen – Chapter 4 Draft
Written by Rocky Mountain Woman on November 22, 2010 – 7:22 am -
As promised, the winter was hard and long, but eventually the snow melted and there were a few days in a row where the sun shone and Celeste had hope that spring would come soon.
On one such morning, she got up early so she could spend some time enjoying the new day. She walked down the steps from her room to the kitchen and stoked up the fire so she could make coffee and start breakfast. When the coffee was ready, she sat at the table in the kitchen, lost in thought, trying to come up with a plan to convince John to go into Salt Lake to get her some seeds for a kitchen garden before he went back into the mountains.
She looked up to see Matthew coming toward the café. Matthew was one of her regular customers, he spent most of his evenings sitting in front of her fire, eating her food. He smiled as he came into the kitchen, stooping down so his head didn’t bump the door jam.
“Good morning, Celeste,”
“Matthew, what are you doing here so early? I’ve not even started breakfast yet.”
“I am going to try and make it down to Salt Lake for some supplies, I’m getting itchy to get back to my stake. I wondered if I could get you some coffee or something. I noticed we are starting to drink more chicory than coffee lately.”
Celeste laughed, “If I make you a list and give you some money will you get me some supplies?”
“Sure, I’m planning on being down there for a few days, so I’ll have time.”
“Thank you Matthew, I’m starting to run low and I’d like to try and get some garden seeds so I can put in a small kitchen garden.”
“It’s the least I can do after you’ve fed me so well all winter. My mother was French and eating your cassolet is the closest thing to home I’ve found here in the mountains. The only thing that kept me sane this winter was being able to come here and have a little civilized conversation and home cooking every night.”
Celeste ran upstairs to get the money cache she had put aside for John to buy supplies and some paper and a pencil. She quickly made a list and ran back down to give it to Matthew.
He smiled and gave her a quick hug, “I’ll see you in a week or so if this weather holds.”
Celeste watched him walk away. Matthew obviously had a crush on her. In a way, she was flattered. He was several years younger than her and quite good looking with his long dark hair. He was always polite and careful, but his eyes sent a message that had nothing to do with their conversations about French literature and culture. He spoke French fluently and she so enjoyed speaking to someone in her mother tongue, she had probably spent too much time talking to him. If the truth were to be known, Celeste was a little bit of a flirt. She was trying to change her behavior, but with Matthew, it was hard not to smile at him and make him feel welcome. Thank goodness he would be going up into the mountains in the spring and the whole thing would end.
It made her sad to think John and the men would also be leaving soon. They were anxious to go, but had to wait for the weather to settle down a bit and also for some equipment they had ordered from California with Celeste’s café money. She knew it was important to their future for John to go, but it would certainly be lonely without him.
Posted in She Writes | 4 Comments »