Mail Order Bride: Redeemed Mail Order Brides Box Set - Books 13-15: Redeemed Western Historical Mail Order Bride Victorian Romance Collection, #5

By Kenneth Markson

Now available as a Box Set, books 13 - 15 in the Redeemed Mail Order Brides Collection. 
** A Western Historical Mail Order Bride Victorian Romance Novelette Collection** 

Mail Order Bride: The Wayward Brother 
A disaster strikes Charleston, and overnight, pretty Charlotte's life there is ended. She decides to start fresh and become a mail order bride to Carl, a businessman in Portland. But Portland has a dark secret of its own. When she gets off the train, Charlotte is met by Carl's handsome wayward brother, Trevor, instead of her future husband. What evil has occurred? Will handsome Trevor help Charlotte? Will she find love in this strange city? 

Mail Order Bride: The Stutterer's Lame Bride 
A tragic accident suddenly leaves lovely auburn haired Alexandra Chase lame. Handsome Joseph Ross is a lonely stutterer who has withdrawn into himself. Can this pair complement each other? Will true love win? 

Mail Order Bride: The Deaf Bride 
After her poor fisherman father dies at sea, attractive Jessie becomes a mail order bride in Virginia City. Disaster continues to follow her in her new home. Will love end her unlucky streak? 

If you enjoyed these stories, you may also enjoy Kenneth's other Redeemed Mail Order Brides Box Sets and Rescued Mail Order Brides Box Sets. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Markson
• Release date: May 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533795670

Kenneth Markson

While an English major at college, I wrote a column which was published weekly. I have been writing ever since. The old West and Los Angeles in the forties are eras which lend themselves to tales of romance, courage, and fast paced adventure. I particularly enjoy writing stories about the mail order brides who fearlessly took a chance and traveled West, hoping to find love and a better future. Many of the locales that I write about are places that I have either traveled through or actually lived in. I try to make my works richly accurate. My desire is to provide you with an entertaining and fun read. When I'm not writing, I enjoy spending time with my wife and two children.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Charlotte wiped away the perspiration on her face with a wet cloth.  It had been an extremely hot day, that last day of August, and the advent of darkness afforded no relief.  The evening was equally warm, and the heavy, sultry feeling was unusual for a summer night in Charleston. 

The remarkable stillness gave Charlotte an odd feeling of impending dread.  She immediately tried to shrug it off, for she was not one to be frightened easily.  You're letting yourself get jittery, she reflected.  What you need is some fresh air.

Charlotte Mansfield was a pretty young woman in her early twenties, with long dark hair and bluish green eyes.  Up until a few months ago, she had shared a cramped room in this old building with her invalid mother.  Her mother succumbed to a longstanding illness, leaving her alone in the city.

Charlotte missed her mother greatly.  She thought of her as she stood outside the front entrance to her building, trying to find some coolness.  Her tiny abode was not far from Charleston Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean, but there was no sea breeze bringing relief this evening. 

Everything was uncommonly still and stifling.  In fact, Charlotte felt even warmer, as she went back into her home, and walked up the old, wooden stairs to her room.  She was about to sit down on a comfortable chair, when an event occurred which would remain forever etched in her memory.

It began around 9:50 pm.  The tremor started with a gentle movement of the walls around her, but within a few seconds it had grown to a loud roar.

Oh, my God! Charlotte exclaimed out loud.  What is happening!

Neither she, nor any of the residents of Charleston in that late summer of 1886, had ever experienced anything like what was to follow.

The loud rumbling grew in strength, accompanied by sharp jolts and violent shocks.  Charlotte covered her face in fright, as movable objects flew about, striking the floor and smashing into pieces.  She instinctively tried to protect her eyes from flying shards of dishware and glass.

Several old wooden cabinets toppled over with alarming speed, barely missing her body.  Pieces from a shattered window, smashed to the floor.  Cracks emerged in the wall to her rear, and portions crumbled to the ground behind her.  Charlotte felt helpless, as she witnessed the mayhem which swirled around her. 

It was as if some powerful monster had grabbed her violently by the throat, and was shaking her body like a rag doll, and she could do nothing to stop it.  At the same time, the building itself was being shaken back and forth, like some small toy in the hands of a child that was having a terrible, temper tantrum.  Finally, the shaking came to a brief halt.

Charlotte found herself lying on the floor, her hair and body covered with dust.  Pieces from the ceiling above had fallen in, narrowly missing her head.  A sliver of glass had nicked her leg, but the wound was superficial.

She briefly moved her arms and legs.  Everything appears to be okay, she thought to herself.  Charlotte quickly rose to her feet, and shook the dust from her hair and body.

She was grateful to God, just to be alive.  Outside, she heard wails of terror from people who were pouring out of their buildings into the streets.  Some were mourning the loss of family members who were struck by crumbling walls or collapsing chimneys.

I've got to move quickly, Charlotte thought to herself, and get out of here with the bare essentials that I will need.  She had never experienced an earthquake before, but she was clever enough to know that this was a brief lull, and more was likely to come.  Charlotte took a worn travel bag, and stuffed it with clothing, several family portraits and mementos, and the few pieces of jewelry that her mother had given her.

She also slipped the bills, which represented the small amount of savings which she had, into a hidden inner pocket of her dress.  After looking sadly at her room one last time, Charlotte grabbed a blanket and slipped out the front of her building, travel bag in hand.  She was fortunate that she got out when she did.

Not more than a couple of minutes later, a vicious aftershock shook the very foundation of her poor wounded building.  Severe aftershocks occurred repeatedly throughout the night.  By the time dawn arrived the next morning, few buildings in Charlotte's neighborhood remained standing.  Her old home was not one of them. 

Chapter 2

Chaos reigned outside.  Terrified people poured out of their homes during the aftershocks, and ran in panic through the streets.  Those with bare feet were cut by the broken glass and shards of brick.

Nearly everyone in Charleston fled their homes that night.  Numerous fires broke out in the city, adding to the horror.  Initially, people gathered in the public squares and parks.  Under the dim illumination of the gas lights that still remained standing, there were tales of bravery and kindness.

Ordinary men and women tended to the dead and the numerous wounded.  Charlotte helped wrap the head of an elderly man who was bleeding profusely, after being struck by a piece of falling brick.  She also consoled a young woman who was grieving over the loss of her eight year old son, when he was struck by the stones from a collapsing chimney, just as the family was fleeing its home.

Charlotte's first real experience with death, was with her mother.  She was too young to know her father, who passed away early during her childhood.  This night she saw death on numerous occasions, first hand.

Charlotte knew that there were no words that she could utter which would comfort a grieving parent for the loss of their child.  She just hugged the sobbing mother silently, and then helped her and the rest of the family find shelter.  Later, she was able to get a few hours sleep, sharing the back of a kindly family's wagon.

The morning light brought to Charlotte the realization of the full devastation that had occurred to her city.  She wandered through the streets of the city the next morning, shocked by the damage which had occurred.  Numerous aftershocks struck throughout the day, furthering the havoc, and making it impossible to return to the destroyed homes.

She began to sob as she walked through the rubble, and witnessed the extent of the tragedy.  Not a building in the city remained unscathed.  Many, like her home, were totally destroyed.  Others were roofless, or had walls that caved in.

Charlotte worked in a millinery shop downtown.  She saw to her sorrow, that her place of employment had been completely destroyed, along with much of the business area.  My God, Charlotte thought to herself, what am I going to do? 

The full import of the tragedy struck her then.  Her