“It’s been a true pleasure to have you as my student, Tom. Best wishes to you always.” Alex kept her voice low as she smiled at the boy while he tied her hands behind her back with a piece of rope.
“I’m gonna miss you, Miss Alex. Thank you for being such a good teacher.” Tom’s voice wavered slightly as he finished the knot holding the rope around her hands.
Alex winked at him over her shoulder then turned to the crowd. “As you can see, my talented assistant, Thomas the Great, has securely fastened my hands behind my back.”
Slowly turning around, she showed her hands were tied in such a manner she could not escape the rope. “I will step into this trunk and Thomas the Great will lock me inside. When he opens the trunk, you’ll discover an astounding surprise!”
Excited murmurs rippled over the crowd as they watched Tom help Alex step into the trunk then close the lid after she bent down inside.
He draped a black cloth over the trunk and tapped it with a magic wand. Alex quietly tripped a lever with her foot that dropped down the back of the trunk then slid out behind the curtain.
Douglas McIntosh, dressed as Saint Nicholas, quickly untied her hands and kissed her cheek. “We’ll miss you, Miss Alex.”
“I’ll miss you as well, Mr. McIntosh, but I’m not one for long goodbyes. Have a wonderful Christmas!”
Silently working together, Alex helped him climb into the trunk with his bag of goodies, then draped her dark cloak over her head and shoulders and exited through a side door. The excited cheers from the children as Douglas passed out treats of oranges, nuts, and wrapped candies from his big red bag followed her through the hall.
On silent feet, she descended the stairs and snuck out the front door, knowing a few women lingered in the kitchen. Desperation to leave before she had to say goodbye to her friends added haste to her steps as she rushed to her wagon, whipped off Bill’s blanket, and headed out of town.
Visions of the look of shock and hurt on Arlan’s face when he realized she’d gone without so much as a goodbye stabbed at her relentlessly, but she just couldn’t bear for him to see her leave. If he asked her one more time to stay, she’d give in and surrender to her need for him.
In all her most far-fetched dreams, she’d never expected to meet someone like Arlan. Someone who knew her as well as she knew herself. Someone who made everything in her world seem right. Someone who loved her completely, without conditions or expectations.
Tears dripped down her face and froze on her cheeks as she drove Bill down the road heading south of town.
They’d only traveled a short distance from Hardman, when a thumping noise from the back of her wagon made her yank the horse to a stop.
Cautiously walking around to the back, she pulled the gun from her pocket and jerked open the door.
“Here, now, dear lady, you might hurt someone with that.” Arlan took the gun from her hand and pocketed it as he stepped down to the snowy-covered road and smiled.
His index finger pushed her gaping mouth closed while his eyes sparkled with delight.
“Where are we headed?” He asked, closing the wagon’s door and walking her back around to the seat.
Numbly, she continued staring at him. “Arlan? What on earth are you doing?”
“I thought it was perfectly clear. I’m going with you.” He boosted her up to the wagon seat and climbed up beside her, taking Bill’s reins in his hands.
“You can’t go with me. I’m leaving, for good.”
“Not without me. Are we heading for California? Is that the destination you have in mind?” Arlan raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. “I’ve heard the sunny beaches are quite spectacular.”
“No! You’re going back to Hardman so you can have a good life with a proper, quiet, genteel wife and I’m heading… somewhere.” Alex tried to take the reins from him so he wrapped them around the brake handle out of her reach and held her gloved hands with his.
“I don’t want a proper, quiet, genteel wife. I want you, Alex. You make me laugh and challenge my mind. You frustrate me and energize me all at the same time. You’re witty and smart, funny and courageous, and the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.” Admiration and desire shimmered in his warm blue eyes. “You fit me, Alex, so perfectly. No one else will do. If you insist on leaving Hardman, then I’m going with you, although I’d prefer we go back and at least have Chauncy marry us first. You will marry me, won’t you?”
Flustered, she blinked her eyes, trying to decide if she’d somehow fallen asleep and it all was a dream. Arlan released her hands, removed his gloves, and pulled a gold coin from his pocket with a grin. Mimicking the motions he’d watched her do many times as she performed the trick, he rolled the coin over and under his fingers until it disappeared.
Softly brushing her hair behind her ear out of his way, he pulled back his hand, holding a diamond ring in his fingers. Lifting her left hand in his, he tugged off her glove, slid the ring onto her finger, and kissed her fingertips.
“Alexandra, I’ve been remiss in saying the words, but surely you know how much I love you. I love you and want to marry you and grow old with you. I don’t care where, as long as we’re together.”
“I love you, too, Arlan. I’ve loved you from the moment I first saw you when you stood by my wagon and offered your help.” She squeezed his hands, intently studying his beloved face. “Would you really leave behind everything you know to go with me?”
“In a second, without giving it another thought. The bank, the house, and our friends - nothing matters if I can’t enjoy it with you.” He placed his hand on her cold cheek. “Did you really think you could sneak away without me?”
Chagrined, she nodded her head. “I thought I fooled everyone with my disappearing act.”
“Everyone but me. As you once told me, ‘perception is greater than reality.’ I knew you’d leave without saying goodbye and your disappearing act provided the perfect ruse. In this particular circumstance, perception doesn’t come close to the delectable, delightful, reality of you, Alexandra.” Arlan grinned at her as he edged closer on the wagon seat. “First, I want to know if you’ll marry me.”
“Yes, I’ll marry you, Arlan. I’d like nothing better.”
He kissed her fingers again, making warmth swirl from her hand to her middle at the heated look in his eyes.
“Splendid. You’re going to make the most enchanting Christmas bride the town has ever seen. However, before we get on with that, I need you to make me a promise.”
“Anything, Arlan. Anything.”
His cocky grin melted her heart. “In the next fifty or so years we are married, you can make anything you like disappear including the furniture, food, pets, maybe even our future children…” Alex giggled and Arlan kissed her cheek. “But you must promise you’ll never, ever try to disappear without me again.”
“I promise.”
He gave her a roguish wink. “Good. Now I think it would only be appropriate for you to astound me with one of your magical, mystical, phantasmagorical kisses, Alex the Amazing.”
When she pressed her lips to his, Arlan wasn’t a bit disappointed at the passion, hope, and love exploding between them.
“What do you say we head back to town and see if Chauncy’s interested in performing a wedding while everyone’s in a festive mood? Abby has assured me she has a gown in her shop that’s made for you.” He took the reins in his hands, released the brake, and turned Bill around, urging the horse back to town - toward home.
Alex’s eyes sparkled with humor as she wrapped her arm around his and kissed the dimple in his cheek. “I think it would be a calamity if we didn’t.”
Kolacky
Originating as a semisweet wedding dessert from Central Europe, Kolacky make a wonderful treat anytime, although many make them especially for Christmas.
Here’s a modern version of a delicious recipe.
Kolacky
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (3oz) pkg. cream
cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup strawberry jam (any flavor works)
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Beat until fluffy. Add flour then mix well. Roll dough to 1/8 inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Traditionally, the pastry is cut into squares, but you can use a round biscuit cutter or glass if that’s what you have on hand.
Place pastries two-inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheet. Spoon 1/4 tsp. jam onto each cookie. Fold opposite sides together. If you have trouble getting the sides to stick, dampen the edge with a drop of milk or water.
Bake for 12 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks and sprinkle liberally with confectioner's sugar. It is nearly impossible to eat just one!
Yield about 2 dozen.
Author’s Note
Located in Eastern Oregon, about twenty miles from present-day Heppner, Hardman is now a ghost town despite once being a thriving community.
Although this is a work of fiction and most of the town in The Christmas Calamity exists only in my active imagination, Hardman did boast a skating rink, four churches, a school, and newspaper office in the 1880s.
Months before the idea for this story began flitting around in my head, I came across the word prestidigitator.
It’s one of those words that’s so fun to say, like phantasmagorical and calamity. I had to incorporate it into a story.
As I wrote the second book in the Hardman Holiday series, The Christmas Token, I knew Arlan Guthry needed his own story. He has faithfully served Luke as his assistant at the bank and offered his friendship to the entire Granger family.
Arlan is a straight-laced, upright, sometimes too serious guy. He needed someone who could bring out a more playful side of him. Who better to do that than a sometimes wild, undeniably enchanting magician?
Since I enjoy research and history, I had oodles of fun learning a few magic tricks and exploring ideas for Alex’s magic wagon.
To see some of the visuals I used for the story, go to The Christmas Calamity board on Pinterest.
Thank you for reading The Christmas Calamity. Now that you’ve finished Arlan and Alex’s story, won’t you please consider writing a review? I would truly appreciate it.
Reviews are the best way readers discover great new books.
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The Christmas Bargain (Hardman Holidays, Book 1) - As owner and manager of the Hardman bank, Luke Granger is a man of responsibility and integrity in the small 1890s Eastern Oregon town. Calling in a long overdue loan, Luke finds himself reluctantly accepting a bargain in lieu of payment from the shiftless farmer who barters his daughter to settle his debt.
Philamena Booth is both mortified and relieved when her father sends her off with the banker as payment of his debt. Held captive on the farm by her father since the death of her mother more than a decade earlier, Philamena is grateful to leave. If only it had been someone other than the handsome and charismatic Luke Granger riding in to rescue her. Ready to hold up her end of the bargain as Luke’s cook and housekeeper, Philamena is prepared for the hard work ahead. What she isn’t prepared for is being forced to marry Luke as part of this crazy Christmas bargain.
The Christmas Token (Hardman Holidays, Book 2) - Desperate to escape an unwelcome suitor, Ginny Granger flees to her brother’s home in Eastern Oregon for the holiday season. Returning to the community where she spent her childhood years, she plans to relax and enjoy a peaceful visit. Not expecting to encounter the boy she once loved, her exile is proving to be anything but restful.
A talented carpenter, Blake Stratton enjoys a simple existence in the small western town of Hardman. With honest work and good friends, his life is nearly perfect, at least until the day Ginny Granger arrives, setting him on his ear and turning his world upside down. Infuriated by her meddling presence, he’s further exasperated to discover she kept a Christmas token he gave her along with his heart the day she left town many years ago.
Pendleton Petticoats Series
Set in the western town of Pendleton, Oregon, at the turn of the 20th century, each book in this series bears the name of the heroine, all brave yet very different.
Aundy (Book 1) Aundy Thorsen, a stubborn mail-order bride, finds the courage to carry on when she's widowed before ever truly becoming a wife, but opening her heart to love again may be more than she can bear.
Caterina (Book 2) - Running from a man intent on marrying her, Caterina Campanelli starts a new life in Pendleton, completely unprepared for the passionate feelings stirred in her by the town's incredibly handsome deputy sheriff.
Ilsa (Book 3) - Desperate to escape her wicked aunt and an unthinkable future, Ilsa Thorsen finds herself on her sister's ranch in Pendleton. Not only are the dust and smells more than she can bear, but Tony Campanelli seems bent on making her his special project.
Marnie (Book 4) - Beyond all hope for a happy future, Marnie Jones struggles to deal with her roiling emotions when U.S. Marshal Lars Thorsen rides into town, tearing down the walls she’s erected around her heart.
Crumpets and Cowpies (Baker City Brides, Book 1) - Thane Jordan reluctantly travels to England to settle his brother’s estate only to find he’s inherited much more than he could possibly have imagined.
Lady Jemma Bryan has no desire to spend a single minute in Thane Jordan’s insufferable presence much less live under the same roof with the handsome, arrogant American. Forced to choose between poverty or marriage to the man, she finds herself traveling across an ocean and America to reach his ranch in Oregon.
Coming in January 2015!
Turn the page for a preview…
by Shanna Hatfield
Chapter One
Liverpool, England
September 1890
“I could ravish you with kisses.”
The urge to press his lips to the firm, unmoving surface beneath his feet nearly overcame Thane Jordan. Filled with gratitude to plant his cowboy boots on solid ground, he glanced back at the rolling ship that served as his floating home for the past thirteen days.
“Merciful heavens!” A feminine voice, gasping in shock, drew his attention to his immediate right. A matronly woman with an attractive girl at her side gaped at him. “Well, I never, sir!”
Thane tipped his hat to the young woman, winking roguishly. Slowly turning to her affronted chaperone, he gave her a thorough once-over. “Maybe you should, ma’am. Your bloomers might not be in such a tight bunch if you did.”
“Oh!” Insulted, the woman spun around, grabbing her young charge by the arm and marching away from the pier where passengers continued to disembark. The girl glanced back and smiled coyly before disappearing into the crowd.
Thane chuckled at their hasty retreat. He could have easily explained to the woman he aimed his comment at the ground he stood on, not either of them, but he found inordinate satisfaction in disregarding propriety’s standards.
Removing his hat, he raked a hand through his dark blond hair, grown long from his continued procrastination of visiting a barber. After replacing his Stetson on his head, he rubbed at the scruff growing on his face and glanced back at the ship behind him.
If a desperate need to return to his ranch in eastern Oregon didn’t force his impending journey back across the ocean, he’d refuse to ever again leave dry land. No wonder his brother, Henry, chose to stay in England instead of sailing back to New York when he left fourteen years earlier.
Thoughts of his brother made his chest constrict with unwarranted pain. He picked up his leather traveling bag in one hand and propelled his feet forward, still a little wobbly on his legs as he adjusted to being on land.
He’d spent most of the time
aboard ship seasick. Every movement up and down with the waves sent his stomach churning. Determined to wipe the misery from his mind, he wanted to find somewhere he could soak in a hot bath, eat a decent meal, and sleep through the night.
Instead, he walked along the pier, taking in the stacks and stacks of cotton bales, since most of the world’s raw cotton traveled through Liverpool’s ports. Cotton was the reason Henry left America and Thane found himself living in Oregon.
Once he reached the street, Thane hailed a hansom cab and handed the driver the address of Henry’s solicitor, a man named Arthur Weston.
A month ago, Thane looked up from fixing fence on his sprawling cattle ranch to see his friend Tully Barrett racing across the pasture toward him. The telegram he delivered, from Mr. Weston, informed Thane that Henry passed away from injuries sustained when he took a fall from his horse.
Named as Henry’s sole beneficiary, the telegram from Weston asked that Thane make immediate arrangements to travel to England to settle his brother’s estate. A flurry of telegram messages passed between the two men as Thane demanded to know why he needed to make the journey. Weston provided vague responses, continuing to insist he come.
Finally giving in to the solicitor’s unyielding request he attend to matters in person, Thane tied up loose ends on the ranch, leaving with Tully’s promise to keep watch over his place until his return.
The train carried him from Baker City, Oregon, across the country to New York City. He booked passage on the first boat headed to Liverpool and regretted leaving the peaceful sagebrush-dotted hills of his ranch with every mile the ship crossed on the open sea.
As he settled himself against the smooth leather seat of the cab, Thane took a deep breath, inhaling the scents of saltwater, fish, coal, and roasting meat. Hungry after days of illness with little more to eat than hardtack and soda crackers, the rich aroma of the meat made his stomach rumble.
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