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    Lies & Secrets: Three Historical Short Stories
    Lies & Secrets: Three Historical Short Stories
    Lies & Secrets: Three Historical Short Stories
    Ebook87 pages1 hour

    Lies & Secrets: Three Historical Short Stories

    By Marsha Ward

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    About this ebook

    Three Historical Short Stories that expand the Owen Family Universe!

    Young Julianna Owen didn't think flirting with Parley Morgan at the barn raising would lead him to put his hands where they ought not to be. Worse yet, her sister discovers them. Parley abandons her, running off into the woods. "Scandalous" shines a light on teen hormones run amok during a trying time in the Owen family's story, as it ties up a loose thread from Spinster's Folly.

    Rida Owen didn't know her husband would be a womanizing wife-beater, and hides the situation from her in-laws. Then a former neighbor visits and reveals his own secret. A Shenandoah Neighbors story, "Broken" illuminates a dark corner of the Owen Family universe while offering hope.

    Isabelle Gilbert chafes against the restrictions that Victorian life puts on a young lady. An unwanted betrothal, inattentive parents, and long-hidden family secrets her mother reveals add to her unsettled state of mind. "Bloodied Leather" is a Shenandoah Neighbors story that ties in to Marsha Ward's popular Owen Family Saga series of novels.

    These three stories are also available separately.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMarsha Ward
    Release dateJun 27, 2018
    ISBN9781947306066
    Lies & Secrets: Three Historical Short Stories
    Author

    Marsha Ward

    Marsha Ward was born in the sleepy little town of Phoenix, Arizona, and grew up with chickens, citrus trees, and lots of room to roam. She began telling stories at a very early age, regaling neighborhood chums with her tales over homemade sugar cookies and milk. Her love of 19th Century Western history was reinforced by visits to her cousins on their ranch and listening to her father's stories of homesteading in Old Mexico and in the Tucson area.Over the years, Marsha became an award-winning poet, writer and editor, with over 900 pieces of published work. She is the founder of American Night Writers Association and a member of Western Writers of America, Indie Author Hub, and Arizona Professional Writers. She makes her home in a tiny forest hamlet in Arizona. When she is not writing, she loves to give talks, meet readers, and sign books.

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      Book preview

      Lies & Secrets - Marsha Ward

      Lies & Secrets

      Three Historical Short Stories

      Scandalous

      Broken

      Bloodied Leather

      Scandalous: An Owen Family Story

      Young Julianna Owen didn't think flirting with Parley Morgan at the barn raising would lead him to put his hands where they ought not to be. But even worse, her sister discovers them, and Parley abandons her, running off into the woods.

      Julianna's strict father has found where she is hiding, and her world on the Colorado frontier is crashing down around her ears. She thought love and romance was only about going on picnics and holding hands, not rough kisses and hurtful pawing.

      Now the consequences of her actions might be beyond what she can bear.

      In the 1866 Owen Family universe, Scandalous shines a light on teen hormones run amok during a trying time in the family's story, as it ties up a loose thread from the novel, Spinster's Folly.

      Broken: A Shenandoah Neighbors Story

      Rida Owen didn’t know married life on the Colorado frontier could be so difficult. Nothing in her Catholic upbringing prepared her for long, lonely nights when her husband, Bert, goes drinking. And womanizing. And then comes home to beat her.

      Her mother-in-law thinks she’s stuck up when she doesn’t participate in homestead washday. Rida only wants to hide her bruises and preserve her marriage.

      Then a neighbor from her past stops to say hello and reveals a secret of his own.

      Broken is a Shenandoah Neighbors story that reveals a dark corner of the Owen Family universe in 1875.

      Bloodied Leather: A Shenandoah Neighbors Story

      Isabelle Gilbert chafes against the restrictions that Victorian life puts on a young lady.

      Forced to accept a betrothal to Percival Egmont, an English ex-patriot like her father, she is disturbed by his passion for prize-fighting—and other pursuits. And what if Mama spots the bruise on her cheek?

      Then shared secrets perplex Isabelle even more.

      A Shenandoah Neighbor story, Bloodied Leather extends the Owen Family universe into 1886.

      Lies & Secrets

      Three Historical Short Stories

      Marsha Ward

      Copyright © 2018 Marsha Ward

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

      WestWard Books

      P O Box 53

      Payson, Arizona 85547

      www.westwardbooks.com

      Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

      Cover Design by Linda Boulanger

      Tell~Tale Book Covers

      http://telltalebookcovers.weebly.com

      Ebook ISBN 978-1-947306-06-6

      Smashwords Edition

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights and hard work is appreciated.

      Table of Contents

      Scandalous: An Owen Family Story

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Broken: A Shenandoah Neighbors Story

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Bloodied Leather: A Shenandoah Neighbors Story

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Books by Marsha Ward

      About the Author

      Thank you!

      Scandalous: An Owen Family Story

      Chapter 1

      Julianna Owen awoke in her father's stable, slumped behind a lumpy, smelly gunnysack of grain. She crinkled her nose at the odor and blinked, trying to get her bearings. How long had she been here?

      Light filtered through the poorly-chinked west-facing log wall, so it was afternoon. It had been mid-morning when she'd hidden here in the straw, fleeing the woods after her sister Marie had barged into the open space within the circle of oak trees, and caught her and Parley Morgan kissing.

      Darn that Parley, anyway. His family had come up to the homestead for the Owen family's barn raising, but when he'd suggested that they take a little walk, he'd led her deep into the oak woods. Then he'd gone far beyond her expectations of what would occur when she'd flirted with him, unbuttoning her bodice that way and squeezin' her little bosoms, still tender from sprouting out of her flat chest. All the time he'd been whispering how he loved her so much and no one would ever know, and then he'd commenced to kiss her, forcing her mouth open and sticking his tongue almost down her throat.

      Then Marie yelled and Julianna shrieked and Parley jumped away and swore at her and ran off like his pants were on fire, leaving her screaming and crying and having to run away holding her bodice together while Marie stood there with that horrid look of disgust on her face.

      Julianna shivered against the straw scratching her through her clothing, glad the nightmare had passed.

      A figure big enough to block the thin rays of light, one by one, moved along the wall. She heard a rustle in the weeds at the corner of the stable, then the tread of a heavy pair of feet proceeded toward the door. Then it was yanked open and afternoon light filled the area inside.

      Daughter! Where are you?

      Papa! Her breath left her body in a hitching sigh. Who told Papa? It must have been her sister.

      Julianna Owen, don't you hide from me.

      He was angry. More than angry. What is more than angry called? She rolled herself into a ball. His footsteps came into the stable from the doorway. He would find her. She tightened her ball, shrinking from his extreme anger.

      Get up. She peeked upward. He loomed over her, glaring down, his hands on his hips.

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