Westward, Ho!: Golden West Trilogy Book 1: Golden West Trilogy, #1

By J.R. Murdock

Moving from New York to California excited Abigal.

Until she realized her father's idea of transportation was a mechanical, steam-powered horse.

Along the way, she befriends a giant, deals with the ghost of one of her father's coworkers, and are pursued by…someone. She hopes they'll not have more difficulties once they finally reach their new home

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.R. Murdock
• Release date: Oct 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201249397

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

THE DOOR TO the small apartment slammed open. Abigail! Abigail. Pack your bags. We're heading to California.

Abigail's father, Cecil, stood in the doorway wide-eyed, looking at his pocket watch; his hand still on the door. He'd come in on more than one occasion making proclamations of moving from New York, but they still hadn't left. Mostly it was due to frustration with his job, combined with his dislike of the big city.

To be fair, her father had always been eager to head out west. He had read far too many news stories about what was happening back there. Abigail, on the other hand, was comfortable and had no intention of leaving New York.

Didn't you hear me? We need to pack up and go, honey. He pushed the watch back into his vest pocket. The train leaves in three hours. We need to get to the station.

Her father produced two train tickets from his coat pocket and waved them at her before slapping them down on the small table by the front door. He then took off his hat and tossed it at the hat rack, missing it by more than his normal amount.

Father, we've been through all this before. Honestly, California? It's barely even a state. And the railroad? It doesn't go all the way. They don't think it'll be completed until 1870 at the earliest. What are we going to do? Get to the end of the line and wait another five years before they finish it?

We don't have time to discuss that now. I just need you to get ready. We're leaving.

I don't have time to pack all my things.

I have movers coming. They'll pack up all your things and have them delivered to us in California. They should be there about a month after we get there.

What about my schooling? I'm only fourteen. My teachers will frown on my leaving school now.

Honey, please just start packing. We're wasting time. We really should be discussing this all on the way.

Her father had already gotten out one of the large suitcases from under the bed and had begun dumping drawers of clothes into it. Abigail didn't move. He couldn't just expect her to get up and start moving at the drop of a hat. She had a life here. Friends, school, her lab. She couldn't pack up all she needed in a couple of hours.

She got up and took hold of his wrist to stop him. Her father was a small man and she stood nearly three inches taller than him, much like her mother had. She took hold of his face and kissed his forehead, again like her mother always did to calm his franticness. She needed to talk some sense into him.

Father. California is a long way away. We can't just stop everything and head off to California. It'll take a couple of months to get there. What's the rush? You have work tomorrow.

This is for work.

That stopped her. Her father had worked for Mr. Huntington for some time and knew a great deal about railroads, but he was far from being heavily involved in the Transcontinental Railroad. Mostly, her father was involved with building more efficient locomotives. His work with steam engines bordered on brilliant.

Why are you being sent to California?

It's the Gold Rush! I'm needed. Me. Imagine that. They need me there.

Dad, the Gold Rush has been going on for more than a decade. Why do they need you there all of a sudden? Abigail sat on the bed.

They're working on a new machine to harvest gold from the ground. They can't just pick up rocks from the ground or pan for gold. Mr. Huntington wants bigger machines to dig up more pay dirt. Finally, after all these years, this is my shot to impress him.

I'm guessing you've done that already, father, if he's sending you to California.

Not only that, but he's also paying for the passage there, and he gave me three hundred dollars for any moving expenses!

Moving expenses? You mean we're going to stay there? Abigail crossed her arms over her chest.

Of course, we're going to have to live there, honey. It's not like we can just hop back and forth from coast to coast.

What about my lab?

It'll come across as well. I already stopped by the moving office and gave them our address and the address for your lab. Even my lab is being moved. Mr. Huntington wants me there and is willing to pay for any of our needs to get there. He said there's a lot more gold that they're not able to get to.

So is he moving there as well?

Heavens, no. He's far too busy on this end. He wants me to send him daily telegraphs once I arrive, to keep him up to date. I guess the person who went out there before me has been killed or something.

What? Or something? You mean you could be heading out there to die? No! We're not going Abigail started to stand up.

Her father put his arm around her shoulder and sat her back down. I'm not going out there to die. And I'll have you there to watch over me. Honey, ever since your mother passed away I've always tried to do the best for you. This is something I've dreamed of for a long time, and it'll put us both in a better position. I know you've got your life here but just think of the opportunity out there. The competition won't be nearly as difficult as it is here and you'll be able to make new friends. I'll make sure you have any technology available to you for your new lab. You just ask for it, and I'll make sure you have it.

You have three hundred dollars, father. How are you going to buy new equipment for me?

I have an expense budget. I'll need your help when I'm building the machinery. When we put the new equipment into production, I'll be part of the profit-sharing. Most of the guys that are working out there just get a weekly wage. I'll get a percentage. Honey, this could make us rich. There's gold in them thar hills. Cecil laughed.

Unfolding her arms, Abigail reached up and straightened her father's bow tie. I still don't like it. Mother would never have approved.

I'm not asking for your mother's approval. I'm not asking for your approval, just your understanding.

She'd only ever lived in New York. Sure, they'd gone outside the city on vacation, but six years ago they'd lost mom. They didn't even visit the cemetery where Elaine Champski had been buried. It was then that Abigail set up her lab off to the side of her father's workshop. For six years she'd either taught herself how to build things or asked for her father's help. Both of them became obsessed in their way and poured themselves into their endeavors. He with his massive steam-powered engines, she with much smaller machines that usually had no purpose other than to entertain her.

What did they have to lose? Sure, she had friends, but none that she would call close friends. Acquaintances, more interested in parties and clothes, and to a lesser extent, school and boys. None of them would even come and visit her in her lab. They felt it was beneath them to get their delicate fingers dirty.

Perhaps this was what they needed. As excited as he was, this was likely what would break her father out of the six-year funk that had nearly consumed his life. This was, after all, the first time he'd shown real excitement about leaving the city. She couldn't remember the last time he had looked this happy. Could she be a stickler and take his happiness away? She was young. She could adapt. Not only that, but she could also expand her lab.

Abigail smiled.

That's my girl, Cecil said as he hugged her harder. California, here we come!

CHAPTER 2

DECIDING TO LEAVE her dresses in the wardrobe and only pack pants and shirts helped immensely. It took her less than an hour to get everything packed, and she left her father in charge of packing up the rest of the apartment. She needed to make sure she would have time to get to the shop and finish packing up some items. She also wanted to stop by the store and pick up some things she was certain would be difficult to find once they arrived in California. A girl had her needs, after all.

The lab, little more than a walled-off section in her father's workshop, was only ten blocks down the street from their apartment. It didn't hit her until she was halfway there that she'd told her father she'd meet him at the train station at 3:15 PM. Even though she didn't have a watch, there were many clocks on several buildings. This was not only the last time she'd walk down this street to her lab, but this was also the last time she'd leave the apartment. For the next month, it would be somewhere different each night until they arrived in California. They were heading for the wild country.

For the most part, the Gold Rush had happened. Many miners had either left or started working for larger companies. Her father wouldn't be a miner, but a builder. He was going to build gold mining equipment. Sure, he knew a lot about steam engines and locomotives, but mining equipment? He didn't have the first clue what went into mining.

Hey, Abby! one of the men who worked with her father called out, as she entered the workshop. She had hoped to enter and leave unnoticed, but a girl entering a dark workshop wearing a bright, yellow dress while dragging along a large wagon with a small crate upon it was hard not to notice. She was surprised she'd heard him over the clanging of hammers on steel.

Hello, Lou.

Several other men stopped working to look at her. Most of them she knew. A couple of them made her nervous. Lou Burton was one of the nicest men in the shop. What her father lacked in physical presence, Lou made up for. The man stood a good six-foot-seven and was about as large as the locomotive he worked on. Her father was the brains, Lou was the brawn. The man's massive arms were covered with grease up to the elbows, as were his overalls and face.

I hear you and your daddy are leaving us. It's sad to see you two go. You'll be missed around here.

Yes, we're off to California. Mr. Huntington has a job waiting for him out there. I would stay, but I couldn't let him head out there all by himself. Who would take care of him?

Lou laughed. There's a good daughter. I only wish my little one would grow up like you. I didn't think I'd see you, so I left a little something in your lab. I hope you don't mind. Your daddy told me that he was having it packed up to go with you. I'd hug you, but, well...

Abigail produced a handkerchief from her sash and reached up and cleaned a spot on his cheek. He leaned down and she kissed him, leaving a lipstick mark inside the clean area. He smiled.

Thank you. You be sure to take care of your daddy. He's a smart man, but something tells me he'll get himself into trouble out there.

And thank you, Lou. I'll be sure to take care of him.

The clanging resumed as soon as Lou turned around. She made her way through the stacks of machinery in various states of assembly, to the corner where her lab sat. Several pieces of wood had been nailed together to make two walls and a roof. Even the door had been put together from scraps of wood. Lou, once he heard that someone had broken into her lab and stolen something, had reinforced the walls and door, and even installed a lock. She took out the key and opened the door. She would leave the key with Lou when she left.

Opening the door caused sliders to drop from the windows of the outside walls. One let light in from the alley while the other exposed her lab to the rail yard. Either a cat or a dog scrambled out of the alley, knocking over a stack of boxes as it ran.

The light fell on her workbench, with several projects in various states of build. Those that she completed were under the bench. She opened the crate and shifted around the straw inside. One by one she pulled out her creations. They consisted mostly of hammered brass or steel riveted together and bound with leather straps. The internal mechanics were the smallest gears and cogs she could find in the discarded pile of scraps surrounding her lab. Only once had she gotten in trouble for taking something.

Each item she placed inside, taking special care with a pair of glass orbs that were attached to a long brass rod. The glass orbs allowed her to collect a static charge while the brass rod allowed her to discharge it. It's quite likely that's why the animal in the alley bolted. They'd been surprised on more than one occasion by her experiments.

Abigail took up some straw from the floor to cover the items placed inside. Looking at the spare tools, most either broken or poorly patched, she decided that she'd ask her father for newer tools once they reached California. If Mr. Huntington was sending them, then she deserved something from the bargain.

Something sparkly caught her eye. Sitting in the middle of her workbench among her projects was a silver locket. The front had a rose engraved upon it while the back had a series of gears. Opening the locket on the side with the rose was a picture of her mother looking excited, but a little bit nervous. On the opposite side was a picture of her father looking much the same. Tears quickly filled her eyes as she realized that this was from a picture of her mother and father on their wedding day. Even though she'd never visited her mother's gravesite since the day she was buried, Abigail felt a sudden need to go and see her.

Two loud chimes sounded from a far-off clock. She only had an hour before she'd need to make her way to the train station. Thankfully the stores she needed to stop at were located near the train station.

Rather than call to Lou, she put the key on the workbench. He was busy yelling at someone and the clanging had stopped once again. He looked her way and waved. She pointed to the open door of her lab and he nodded. She knew he'd take care of anything she left behind.

The wagon, now heavier, was a little more difficult to pull along. Fortunately, not many people were on the street to get in her way, so once she got it moving she didn't have to worry about running anyone down. The first store she needed to stop at, if she remembered correctly, would be Donnington's boots and bodices. If she was heading into the wilds of California she wanted to make sure to have appropriate footwear.

A man wearing a tight tan suit with brown stripes stood in the middle of the walk, almost as if he were going to stop her. He took the bowler off his balding head and held it at his side as he watched her rapidly approaching.

I can't stop this thing. I suggest you get out of the way. Abigail wanted to be polite, but the man didn't appear to be concerned with her current rate of speed. Sir, you'll have to step aside.

The closer she got, the more fidgety the man became until he finally stepped aside. He held up a finger as if to get