The Red Queen of Reno
Sarah Whittaker hadn’t seen her husband in five years. Six months after their child was born he slipped his weathered pack over his shoulders and declared he was headed to the city to find work so his little girl could have everything he hadn’t. Sarah watched through tears as his form disappeared down the path that connected their cabin to the rest of the world. That had been the last she had seen or heard of Mr. Whittaker. Sarah waited patiently for the father of her child, but as months turned to years, she had to admit that he wasn’t coming home. It hadn’t been easy raising a girl on the frontier alone, but Sarah had done what she needed to do to make sure they didn’t go hungry, not all of which she was proud of. It was a cool day when she met Lieutenant Greg Barclay. She sat on her covered porch, tea in hand, watching as the fall leaves drifted from the trees making her long for the colors of the Northeast fall she remembered from her childhood...