Romance Upon a Storm 1929

By Michael J Bryant

The entire country suffered during the great depression. Food and money became hard to find and businesses started closing left and right. Once millions of peoples life savings vanished with the great depressions arrival, one of the many farming families struggling to stay afloat, the Collins resorted to breaking the law. Of course, in doing so there would also be a price to pay.
Not being able to hire help when the harvesting season arrived, the children were recruited to help with the many chores and stayed home rather than going to school. During one harvesting season while the kids were at play, Joshua Collins begins falling in love with one of the neighboring girls he has known most of his young life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 7, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329119840

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Romance Upon a Storm 1929

Romance Upon a Storm

1929

By Michael J Bryant

Copyright 2015 Lulu Author, Michael J Bryant

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form of by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All contents herein, ideas, fictional events, characters, story lines, and anything else pertaining to this story of Romance Upon A Storm 1929, belong to the author Michael J Bryant, exclusively written and designed for this book alone.

Written By: Michael J. Bryant

Copyright By: Michael J. Bryant 

Copyright May 07, 2015. All rights reserved.

US Copyright Office Washington, DC  

Dedications:

I want to dedicate this novel to my entire family, our country, our troops around the world and our way of life in the United States of Free America.

Contents

Black Tuesday                          Chapter 1

Depression Cooking                 Chapter 2   

Out of Business                        Chapter 3

Helping a Friend                       Chapter 4

The Pond Schooner                   Chapter 5

The Eggs                                   Chapter 6

Continuing Storm                     Chapter 7   

Narrow Escape                         Chapter 8

Harvesting Season                    Chapter 9

Trouble in Paradise                   Chapter 10

Romance upon a Storm            Chapter 11

The old rag tag boat                  Chapter 12  

Dying Farm Life                       Chapter 13

A Boys Wish                            Chapter 14

Introduction:

History shows that everyone suffered during the great depression. While food and money became hard to find, the Collins family, one of the many farming families struggling to stay afloat, resorted to breaking the law. Of course, in doing so there would also be a price to pay. Not being able to hire help when harvesting season arrived, the children were recruited to help with the many chores and stayed home rather than going to school. During one harvest season while the kids were at play, Joshua Collins begins falling in love with one of the neighboring girls he has known most of his young life. 

Black Tuesday                          Chapter 1

America had been somewhat flourishing with wealth and business up until 1928 even though American farmers and industries alike were starting to feel the effects of the pending Great Depression to come. Businesses were now beginning to falter all over the nation and things were getting tougher. When Herbert Hoover was elected to office and took over the presidency in 1929, he appeared to be the man to fix the country’s troubles. Even though life still appeared to be fairly good in 1929, the seeds of depression had already been planted in a past era of prosperity.

On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed throwing America into despair. This day would forever be remembered as Black Tuesday, marking the beginning of the Great Depression. While the stock market tumbled with no hope of recovery, banks started failing, pushing people and businesses into bankruptcy. Soon afterward, factories began locking their gates. Shops and smaller businesses shuttered and millions of citizens found themselves without a job and without any savings. Most remaining businesses were now struggling to survive. With the United States in a steady financial decline, it found itself deadlocked in the most profound depression in its history.

The Collins farm was also feeling the pinch of the depression but had managed to survive this far. The farm had been handed down for generations in the family and the present day Collins family had no intensions of letting their farm be taken. Even though the appearances of most of the buildings were beginning to look a little run down because of the lack of funds, and because of losing most of their livestock in order to remain operational, Clayton and Mitch Collins felt confident that things would eventually bounce back into the green rather than like now, operating in the red.

The Collins farm was located in the foothills of the Carolina’s. Unlike a lot of farms in this area, they were able to somehow stay in business. Taxes went unpaid because of their bank savings disappearing overnight and the brothers were so head strong, they carried shotguns around with them in case any tax collectors showed up unexpectedly to harass them. All they wanted was to be left alone to live out their lives like past generations of Collins had done.

Being that Prohibition laws had been in place since 1920, Uncle Mitch had been running a moonshine still off in the bushes and away from the house just in case something went wrong. He’d been in operation for a few years and split up supplies between the farm and his little operation. Even though he had been very successful at making and selling his liquor, things had gotten so tough economically that he would trade the moonshine liquor for things needed around the farm. Perhaps this was one of the ways the Collins family was able to keep their farm in operation even after the stock market crashed.

Several vehicles used to be parked out front of the farm house up until bill collectors and tax people came out and repossessed the automobiles for either delinquent taxes or outstanding bills during 1930. Once the banks started failing, no one appeared to have any mercy on folks owing money even though it wasn’t their fault that all of their life savings had vaporized. Thank goodness the Collins family still owned the two flatbed Ford model T’s for working the farm but even those would be in jeopardy the following year.

Before the hard times hit, Clayton’s wife Ericka would often run into town with their younger daughter Rori for supplies and casual shopping sprees among the many retailers and shops. Uncle Mitch would deliver his moonshine on the weekends and thankfully never killed himself driving crazy drunk down the back roads to the farm late at night. Oh, he ditched the police on several occasions, running back wood trails before the depression hit. Even so, life on the farm changed drastically once the Great Depression took hold. The entire family was now continually and voluntarily making necessary cutbacks to conserve their own resources at home.

With millions of Americans now ending up living on the streets, the Collins family felt very blessed to still have a place to call home. As luck would have it though, too many farm products were being harvested coast to coast, forcing the food market values way down. Because Clayton and Uncle Mitch couldn’t make much profit any longer, Uncle Mitch was soon forced to fire or let the farmhands go because he no longer had any way to pay them. The farm help was in such short supply that the brothers and sometimes Clayton’s older son Joshua, who was now 13 years old, had to help tend the fields. Many fields on the farm which had been planted in the past years were also being left alone.

It was now spring time 1931. Clayton and his brother Mitch had just finished working the fields and were sitting on the front porch cooling down from the day’s work. It was Saturday afternoon and a cool breeze was blowing in from the west. Both men were bare chested, wearing old dirty jeans, western boots and sporting cowboy hats. The brothers had pulled the tractor into the barn and then drove one of the flatbed trucks back up to the main farm house. It was time to relax for a spell while the brothers watched the afternoon sky becoming cloudy as if a storm was lingering.

Half of our fields are going to be laying waste this year, Mitch complained, reaching down for his moonshine jug from between their chairs. 

We may not have anything to plant next year anyway, especially if the bank repossesses our only remaining vehicles like they are threatening to do, Clayton admitted, We may be out of business ourselves next year.

I’ll shoot those bastards if they try anything like that, Mitch threatened after sipping the jug, those damn bankers and tax people have already taken everything that was worth anything.

They are just struggling to stay in business themselves, Clayton replied, It seems to be a dog-eat dog world and only the strong are going to survive this depression.

If those greedy money hungry bastards hadn’t gambled all of our savings away on worthless stocks, we wouldn’t be in this mess, Mitch told his brother, handing him the jug.

Maybe so but if you start shooting people, you’re going to end up either in prison or at the end of a rope, Clayton warned as he now sipped on that jug of moonshine.

We’ve always been good law abiding, tax paying citizens and we shouldn’t be treated like this, Mitch complained.

Maybe we can at least figure something out about the trucks? his brother suggested, rubbing his chin as if in deep thought.

With a laugh, Mitch then smartly asked, Like what? Hiding them in the north Forty, or burying them out in the pasture?

Maybe we can get pop’s old flatbed running with borrowed parts? Clayton suggested, After all, it’s a Ford as well.

Looking as if a light bulb suddenly turned on in his head, Mitch then said with a grin, You might just have something there, brother.

With their shotguns leaning up against the house between their chairs, Clayton patted his gun, saying, There’s more than one way to beat these bastards at their own game besides taking the law into our own hands. Dad’s old flatbed Ford has been sitting in the barn for a few years but I’ll bet you that we can get it running good and then the bank can just tow their trucks away if they like and we can be rid of another bill we can’t pay. What do you think?

With a big grin, Uncle Mitch replied, Sounds like a plan. When do you want to get started?

How about this evening, right after supper? Clayton suggested, taking another swig from his brothers jug, The sooner the better, my brother. You know those repo guys appear out of nowhere at times and we don’t want to be caught with our britches down.

I know, Mitch agreed, we have already received several threats in the mail.

Ericka came out onto the front porch where the men were sitting and asked, Have you guys seen Joshua?

Ericka, Clayton’s wife of about 13 years, was still a shapely, pretty woman at 27 years old. Having two children didn’t seem to hurt her looks any. She too was a very hard worker, keeping the house as clean as a person could while also doing the cooking and the laundry for the entire family. Her nice round braless c-cup breasts were bouncing around freely under that old front button up dress of hers. With several buttons unfastened under her chin because of the heat, she was as sexy looking as ever.

What’s the matter, honey? her husband asked.

Oh, I just finished hand washing the clothes and I could use some help hanging them up on the clotheslines out back, she announced.

Joshua was just here a few minutes ago, Clayton explained, now glancing around the yard.

Uncle Mitch stood up and shouted, Joshua, hey Joshua. Where are you, boy?

Within a few minutes, Joshua came out from around the back side of the house, saying, Here I am. What do you need, Uncle Mitch?

Son, go help your mama hang up the clothes out back, his daddy told him.

But dad, he protested a little.

"You heard your pa, and go wash those dirty hands before you start