A DISTANCE TOO GRAND
(American Wonders Collection, Book One)
by
REGINA SCOTT
Date of Publication: October 1, 2019
Number of Pages: 384
***Scroll down for the giveaway!***
Meg Pero has been assisting her photographer father since she was big enough to carry his equipment, so when he dies she is determined --
Captain Ben Coleridge would like nothing more than to leave without the woman who broke his heart. He can't afford to be distracted
As dangers arise from all sides-- --
"Five stars is not a rating I usually bestow
"Adventure, danger, and romance in a wonderful, fresh setting: the Grand Canyon of 1871. Readers will find much to love." --
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Chapter
One, Part One of
A
Distance Too Grand
By
Regina Scott
Fort Wilverton
“You can’t be the photographer.”
Meg
Pero blew a stray blonde hair out of her vision, aimed her sunniest
smile at the Army clerk, and laid a gloved hand on the contract
sitting between them on the scarred wood counter. “This is a
legally binding document, and that is a senior officer’s signature,
is it not?”
The
clerk squinted down at the scrawl. “Yes, ma’am. But I was told
“If
you look closely,” Meg said, bending over the contract, the
sunlight from the door behind blazing across the crowded
quartermaster’s office, “you’ll see the name is M. Pero. M for
Margaret.”
Corporal
Dent bent lower as well
She
sighed despite herself. She’d been expecting the argument ever
since she’d discovered the contract among her father’s effects.
He had to have negotiated it more than
“Men
don’t like
She’d
never liked that advice, but she certainly
It
had been like that most of her trip—arguments, protests. Women
couldn’t be seen scowl . Normally
men hurried to help when she glanced their way. But sweet words of
persuasion and eager looks had not availed her much this time.
Things
had been so much easier when Papa was alive. He could charm his way
into any situation, make her presence seem perfectly reasonable. He’d
probably have found a way to explain
“It’s
a perfectly good contract,” she said. “There were probably
lawyers involved.”
He
scratched at his navy wool jacket, and she envied him the uniform’s
warmth. Though the last few days of travel from Utah had seen warm
temperatures, the nights were cool. As it was, she wore her navy wool
cloak over her sky-blue cotton blouse and tan twill skirt.
“I
don’t doubt it’s legal, ma’am,” he said. “I also don’t
doubt Captain Coleridge would put me in irons if I added you to the
payroll.”
Captain
Coleridge? Funny. She was certain Fort Wilverton ’s commanding
officer, who had signed the contract, had been a Colonel Coleridge.
Not that she had any interest in making his acquaintance. That was
one of the reasons she’d headed straight for the quartermaster’s
office instead of fort headquarters. Someone would eventually inform
the colonel of her presence, but perhaps she would be able to make
her escape with the survey team without meeting him again. How could
she reintroduce herself to the famous Army colonel when she’d
broken his son’s heart five years ago?
“Captain
Coleridge,” she said, “will be as bound by that contract as you
are.”
He
pushed the paper at her as if afraid it might bite. “But you’re a
woman. Women aren’t photographers.”
Meg
kept her smile in place. “On the contrary. There are ladies right
now who run photography studios in England, Germany, and New York.”
“All
well and good , ma’am,” he said. “But we can’t have women on a
survey expedition.”
Now,
that point she’d come prepared to argue. “Your commanding officer
told my father in a letter that the cartographer’s wife will be
joining the survey.”
“Yes,
but Mrs. Newcomb can cook,” he protested, backing up until his
shoulders bumped the rough-wood shelves behind him, setting the
canteens stocked there to rattling.
“And
I can take pictures,” Meg informed him. “I see no difference.”
“You
would if you knew Mrs. Newcomb,” he muttered.
Meg
refused to dignify the comment with a response. She’d traveled more
than two thousand miles—by rail, wagon, and finally mule—to
reach the fort. Corporal Dent couldn’t know the danger she’d left
behind, a threat to everything she’d ever known. She could still
see the glitter in her aunt’s green eyes as the family had returned
from Papa’s funeral.
“You’ve
been terribly cozened , Margaret,” she’d said, leading Meg into
her dingy little house in Norfolk. “As far as I can see, your
father filled your head with nonsense about your place in this world.
At six and twenty, a young lady should be wed , with children playing
at her feet.”
“But
that would make it terribly hard to get the shot,” Meg had replied.
Regina Scott is the author of GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!
SECOND PRIZE: Copy of A Distance Too Grand + Grand Canyon Candle;
THIRD PRIZE: Copy of A Distance Too Grand + Parks Pencil Set
October 8-October 18, 2019
(U.S. Only)
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