On a Cold Winter's Night

By Cate Martin

Winter out on the Minnesotan prairie in the 1880s tests the very souls of those who attempt to live and farm there.

Christmastime usually means a celebration of light and warmth. But for some families, Christmastime means darkness and too much togetherness.

As a blizzard rages, forcing one family to stay indoors, that togetherness pushes them all to the breaking point. How will the return of light find them?

"On a Cold Winter's Night", a darker kind of Christmas story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ratatoskr Press
• Release date: Dec 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781958606421

Book preview

On a Cold Winter’s Night

ON A COLD WINTER’S NIGHT

CATE MARTIN

Ratatoskr Press

CONTENTS

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On a Cold Winter’s Night

The Witches Three Cozy Mysteries

The Viking Witch Cozy Mysteries

Also from Ratatoskr Press

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About the Author

Also by Cate Martin

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ON A COLD WINTER’S NIGHT

It had been full dark still when Pa and I had gone into the cow barn to do the milking. We only had a dozen cows left, and they weren't giving much these days, so it didn't take us long.

But as much as my heart sank when I poured the last pail into the milk can and saw that it was only half-filled, it rose up again when I lugged that can out to the yard to find the sun fully over the tree line to the east, sparkling off of the frost that coated the whole farm around us. It was like our rundown little dairy farm was some baker's gingerbread creation, glazed all over with glittering icing. I couldn't see the way the red paint on the barn was peeling after years in the prairie sun, it was just a glowing backdrop behind a glaze of ice like the red heart of a magic crystal. The house, small as it was, was almost too bright to look at. And the jagged stalks of the corn fields around us looked so much like