Sneak Peek - Katriona's Keeper
Prologue (unedited)
The Wigg School and Foundling Home
New York City, New York
Katriona Wigg stared down at the catalogue in her lap, her mouth agape.
What was she supposed to do?
“Katriona, you’re going to catch flies,” her sister, Mia, said, a grin on her face. Katriona snapped her mouth shut and glared, teasingly, at the gentle beauty beside her. Out of all her sisters, she and Mia were the closest. It helped that Mia was so different from her; sweet, timid, thoughtful… It wasn’t that Katriona wasn’t thoughtful, she was just a little less…soft than everyone else. Madam Wigg called it “toughness”, but Katriona thought of it as pragmatism.
“You really ought to actually look at the thing,” Mia continued, pointing at the Bride’s Gazette Katriona was holding like it was made of bees.
“Well, you know I wouldn’t even bother if Madam Wigg didn’t get the fool idea to send us all off to get married.”
Mia sighed, clasping her hands in her lap. “Katriona, that’s not fair. She only wants to make sure we’re taken care of once…” A whimper escaped her sister’s lips. “Once she’d gone.”
Duly chastised, Katriona placed a hand on Mia’s shoulder. “I know, darling. I just… I just wish this wasn’t happening at all.”
Just that morning, after breakfast, when the teachers are given a little time before lessons to prepare for the day, Madam Wigg called them into her private parlor. She told them she was sick, dying, and that she wanted each of them—Jessamine, Katriona, Leanna, and Mia—to start their own lives outside of the school. She offered each of them a ridiculous amount of money to start their own schools elsewhere. With one catch…they each had to find themselves a groom first. And that meant rifling through the Bride’s Gazette and playing eeny-meeny until they picked the groom least likely to make them a self-made widow.
I just have to do what needs to be done. That had always been her way; do what needs doing. That was why she taught the students life skills, skills they would need once they were out on their own, in the big world. Cooking, sewing, bookkeeping, and keeping house.
Straightening her shoulders, she bent back to the task of husband hunting. Each one of the grooms in the Gazette were too old, too ugly, too slick, or too dull…
A black and white picture of a man with overlong hair, a hard, angular face, and sharp, penetrating eyes jumped out at her. Her breath caught. He was as handsome as sin, even if he wasn’t smiling. Her eyes returning to the eyes staring back at her, she wondered what color they were. They looked light, piercing, like they could look through the skin right to the bones.
She read the ad, her gaze landing on the name of the town.
“Dry Bayou…”
“Dry Bayou?” Leanna repeated as she swept into the room and plopped down on the bed next to Mia.
Katriona remembered reading about the booming Texas town in a periodical. “Isn’t that the town in Texas where they had the audacity to hire a married teacher?”
Mia gasped dramatically, pressing her hand to her chest. “Good heavens, what were they thinking, assuming a married woman was just as good as an unmarried one? For shame!”
Katriona giggled, both tickled and amused by her usually demure sister.
“Well, that is interesting,” Katriona reined in her humor to remark. “If they hired a married teacher, maybe they’d look kindly on another married teacher starting a whole new type of school…” Suddenly, Katriona’s imagination took off at a gallop.
For the last five years, Katriona kept going back to the same idea; a school specifically for teaching life skills and basic trades. Sewing, cooking, even blacksmithing, carpentry, gardening—all things city kids never had the chance to learn. She could build that kind of school in Texas. Her heart soared at the thought of actually fulfilling her dream.
“What’re you thinking over there?” Leanna asked, her face pinched in confusion. “I can smell the smoke.”
Katriona waved away her sister’s words, her mind weaving together the beginnings of a plan.
“I think I’d better get to writing this fellow so no one else gets a chance to snag that bit of perfect.”
Katriona didn’t miss the look Mia gave Leanna, but she didn’t have time to wonder what the two of them were thinking. She needed ink, pen, and paper.
Jessamine entered the room, huffing. She looked a little frayed at the edges, which was a surprise; Jessamine was always so serene, put together. Out of all the ladies at Madam Wigg’s you’d never see Jessamine with a hair out of place or a sour look on her face. Katriona wondered what had made her dear sister so…rumpled.
Before she could ask, though, Jessamine slid a hand over her hair to make sure it was all as it should be, then offered them all a smile. “I see you have finally chosen your future husband,” she said, pointing at the Bride’s Gazette crumpled in Katriona’s careless grasp.
Grumbling, Katriona smoothed it out and flipped the page back to the ad she’d been reading when her thoughts started spinning.
“Yes, I guess I have,” she answered, handing the Gazette to Jessamine so she could read it.
Ranch foreman, Horace Tucker of Dry Bayou, Texas, seeks a bride of 19-25 years, with a strong back, kind smile, and a desire for a home of her own. Must like horses, can’t be afraid of a little hard work, and must appreciate a man who wants to take care of her.
“Hmmm,” Jessamine hummed, tapping a delicate finger against her chin. “You sure he’s the right one?”
Mia smothered a laugh, but Katriona didn’t see what was so funny.
“What do you mean? I have a strong back, I can smile, and I’m not afraid of hard work or horses,” Katriona retorted.
Jessamine nodded, her caramel-colored face going pink in the cheeks.
“Well, dearest, I was thinking more about the ‘appreciate a man who wants to take care of her’ part.”
Katriona looked from one sister to the other, all of them staring at her with knowing gazes.
“What’s that supposed to mean? I can appreciate a man who…who…” She was stumped. In all her 22 years, she’d never known a man to help her do anything, and so she’d done it herself. She hadn’t seen the need to be taken care of, and she didn’t see why that had to change once she was married.
“That’s the problem, Katriona,” Mia interjected. “You have been so strong and so self-driven, you can’t see that there are things you can’t do on your own. Things that a man can do for you…like protect you, provide for you—”
“I can to those things myself,” Katriona argued, her back stiff.
Mia heaved a sigh. “Katriona…one day, you’ll have to let someone in, and that someone is going to love you and want to keep you safe and happy.”
Snorting, an unladylike thing Madame Wigg had remarked upon at length, Katriona stared down at the image of Horace Tucker, his handsome, unsmiling, face staring back at her. Something within her pinched, making her stomach twist.
Annoyed by her sisters’ lack of faith in her, she murmured, “I don’t need a keeper.”
The Wigg School and Foundling Home
New York City, New York
Katriona Wigg stared down at the catalogue in her lap, her mouth agape.
What was she supposed to do?
“Katriona, you’re going to catch flies,” her sister, Mia, said, a grin on her face. Katriona snapped her mouth shut and glared, teasingly, at the gentle beauty beside her. Out of all her sisters, she and Mia were the closest. It helped that Mia was so different from her; sweet, timid, thoughtful… It wasn’t that Katriona wasn’t thoughtful, she was just a little less…soft than everyone else. Madam Wigg called it “toughness”, but Katriona thought of it as pragmatism.
“You really ought to actually look at the thing,” Mia continued, pointing at the Bride’s Gazette Katriona was holding like it was made of bees.
“Well, you know I wouldn’t even bother if Madam Wigg didn’t get the fool idea to send us all off to get married.”
Mia sighed, clasping her hands in her lap. “Katriona, that’s not fair. She only wants to make sure we’re taken care of once…” A whimper escaped her sister’s lips. “Once she’d gone.”
Duly chastised, Katriona placed a hand on Mia’s shoulder. “I know, darling. I just… I just wish this wasn’t happening at all.”
Just that morning, after breakfast, when the teachers are given a little time before lessons to prepare for the day, Madam Wigg called them into her private parlor. She told them she was sick, dying, and that she wanted each of them—Jessamine, Katriona, Leanna, and Mia—to start their own lives outside of the school. She offered each of them a ridiculous amount of money to start their own schools elsewhere. With one catch…they each had to find themselves a groom first. And that meant rifling through the Bride’s Gazette and playing eeny-meeny until they picked the groom least likely to make them a self-made widow.
I just have to do what needs to be done. That had always been her way; do what needs doing. That was why she taught the students life skills, skills they would need once they were out on their own, in the big world. Cooking, sewing, bookkeeping, and keeping house.
Straightening her shoulders, she bent back to the task of husband hunting. Each one of the grooms in the Gazette were too old, too ugly, too slick, or too dull…
A black and white picture of a man with overlong hair, a hard, angular face, and sharp, penetrating eyes jumped out at her. Her breath caught. He was as handsome as sin, even if he wasn’t smiling. Her eyes returning to the eyes staring back at her, she wondered what color they were. They looked light, piercing, like they could look through the skin right to the bones.
She read the ad, her gaze landing on the name of the town.
“Dry Bayou…”
“Dry Bayou?” Leanna repeated as she swept into the room and plopped down on the bed next to Mia.
Katriona remembered reading about the booming Texas town in a periodical. “Isn’t that the town in Texas where they had the audacity to hire a married teacher?”
Mia gasped dramatically, pressing her hand to her chest. “Good heavens, what were they thinking, assuming a married woman was just as good as an unmarried one? For shame!”
Katriona giggled, both tickled and amused by her usually demure sister.
“Well, that is interesting,” Katriona reined in her humor to remark. “If they hired a married teacher, maybe they’d look kindly on another married teacher starting a whole new type of school…” Suddenly, Katriona’s imagination took off at a gallop.
For the last five years, Katriona kept going back to the same idea; a school specifically for teaching life skills and basic trades. Sewing, cooking, even blacksmithing, carpentry, gardening—all things city kids never had the chance to learn. She could build that kind of school in Texas. Her heart soared at the thought of actually fulfilling her dream.
“What’re you thinking over there?” Leanna asked, her face pinched in confusion. “I can smell the smoke.”
Katriona waved away her sister’s words, her mind weaving together the beginnings of a plan.
“I think I’d better get to writing this fellow so no one else gets a chance to snag that bit of perfect.”
Katriona didn’t miss the look Mia gave Leanna, but she didn’t have time to wonder what the two of them were thinking. She needed ink, pen, and paper.
Jessamine entered the room, huffing. She looked a little frayed at the edges, which was a surprise; Jessamine was always so serene, put together. Out of all the ladies at Madam Wigg’s you’d never see Jessamine with a hair out of place or a sour look on her face. Katriona wondered what had made her dear sister so…rumpled.
Before she could ask, though, Jessamine slid a hand over her hair to make sure it was all as it should be, then offered them all a smile. “I see you have finally chosen your future husband,” she said, pointing at the Bride’s Gazette crumpled in Katriona’s careless grasp.
Grumbling, Katriona smoothed it out and flipped the page back to the ad she’d been reading when her thoughts started spinning.
“Yes, I guess I have,” she answered, handing the Gazette to Jessamine so she could read it.
Ranch foreman, Horace Tucker of Dry Bayou, Texas, seeks a bride of 19-25 years, with a strong back, kind smile, and a desire for a home of her own. Must like horses, can’t be afraid of a little hard work, and must appreciate a man who wants to take care of her.
“Hmmm,” Jessamine hummed, tapping a delicate finger against her chin. “You sure he’s the right one?”
Mia smothered a laugh, but Katriona didn’t see what was so funny.
“What do you mean? I have a strong back, I can smile, and I’m not afraid of hard work or horses,” Katriona retorted.
Jessamine nodded, her caramel-colored face going pink in the cheeks.
“Well, dearest, I was thinking more about the ‘appreciate a man who wants to take care of her’ part.”
Katriona looked from one sister to the other, all of them staring at her with knowing gazes.
“What’s that supposed to mean? I can appreciate a man who…who…” She was stumped. In all her 22 years, she’d never known a man to help her do anything, and so she’d done it herself. She hadn’t seen the need to be taken care of, and she didn’t see why that had to change once she was married.
“That’s the problem, Katriona,” Mia interjected. “You have been so strong and so self-driven, you can’t see that there are things you can’t do on your own. Things that a man can do for you…like protect you, provide for you—”
“I can to those things myself,” Katriona argued, her back stiff.
Mia heaved a sigh. “Katriona…one day, you’ll have to let someone in, and that someone is going to love you and want to keep you safe and happy.”
Snorting, an unladylike thing Madame Wigg had remarked upon at length, Katriona stared down at the image of Horace Tucker, his handsome, unsmiling, face staring back at her. Something within her pinched, making her stomach twist.
Annoyed by her sisters’ lack of faith in her, she murmured, “I don’t need a keeper.”