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142 pages

English

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A Most Daunting Time is an epic tale of two families in the 1930s in the shadow of the Great Depression. Melvyn and Sally Bridges settled in Dodge City, Kansas, a mid-western town of renown, in 1919, and began farming. They farmed until the middle-'30s when the Dust Bowl rendered them penniless. Sally bore two sons and a daughter, the eldest of which, Mitchell, is a baseball player with remarkable skills and future ambitions. Charles Clark, an aristocratic oil tycoon, and his daughter, Holly, a "Belle of the South," live in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and have lived quite well through the hardening times. But, fate has a way of evening out odds, and little did both families know they would be brought together in unforeseen circumstances.

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Historical

Fiction

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Publié par	Outskirts Press
Date de parution	19 juin 2017
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781478791232
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0250€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

A Most Daunting Time
All Rights Reserved.
Copyright © 2017 Robert Roach
v2.0

This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described herein are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-4787-9123-2

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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1
I t is 1938, late spring in Dodge City, Kansas. Mitchell Bridges, a senior in high school, was to play a baseball game for his high school team against a team from Kansas City, for the State Championship.
The nation is still experiencing one of its worst disasters, dust clouds covering Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, and creating a condition nationally called “The Dust Bowl.” The drought is in its fifth year, having started in 1933. People that have lived in—what some people have called—“this god-awful” place, have survived the most miserable conditions one could imagine. All of their crops ruined, all of the topsoil misplaced because of the wind. However, life goes on for the unfortunate few who have stayed in the Midwest. In the hopes it would be a nice day, free of dust, the game was to be played on a dirt field at the high school in Dodge City. Mitchell’s team was made up of farm kids from outlying towns: Cimarron, Ensign, Bucklin, and a few other burgs. They were to play three games against Kansas City, and Dodge City only had two pitchers: Mitchell and Richard “Bobo” Riley. Mitchell, the Better of the two pitchers, would pitch two games: the first, on Saturday, and the second game of the double-header on Sunday. He was by far the best athlete on the team, the best pitcher and hitter. The best they could hope for was for Mitchell to win the first game and make the next two respectable.
Saturday morning came, and the skies were hazy, like most days, with dust covering the bleachers, the bases, and eventually, most of the players.
Mitchell was an imposing figure for a senior in high school, six one, only one hundred seventy-five pounds, but very coordinated, great hand-eye ability, and as fast as the wind.
In the first game, as the Dodge City pitcher, he struck out two of the first three hitters and retired the first inning without a hit. Bucky Grandahl singled to center, and Mitchell, the third hitter, tripled to right-center. He scored on a ground out to second. Two-nothing Dodge City, and that’s the way the first game ended. Mitchell would go on to get two more hits and finished with a complete game allowing only three hits.
That night, Mitchell and his team, along with his parents, celebrated at the local diner. Sitting in the back booth, observing this all, was a gentleman with grayish hair and glasses, taking in the celebration.
The next day was a completely different story. Kansas City took the first game 14-3, when Grandahl was hit hard. Since there was nobody to mop up after Kansas City had scored eight runs in the first four innings, he had to finish the game. Fortunately, the manager for Kansas City took pity and put in several reserves. Mitchell accounted for all three runs with a single, double, and a two-run home run.
The nightcap, a seven-inning affair, which was played at two o’clock, was a cliff-hanger for five innings, tied at one apiece. Mitchell was getting tired and gave up a home run in the sixth. Kansas City went on to score two more runs and won 4-1. Mitchell got two more hits and wound up going eight for eleven for the three days.
Dodge City’s players were in a somber mood after the game, but the coach brought out some ice cream and cokes, and all was well.

The next day, at school, there was a buzz about the play of Mitchell against a more mature and talented Kansas City team. He was not much for the adulation heaped upon him by his fellow students, but was polite and humble in response.
Next week was more of the same. Since there were no animals or growth of any greenery, there were no chores to do on the farm . . . just more school and working as a soda jerk three days a week, getting ready for graduation.
Sunday morning, he was riding his bike through town and spotted a girl he knew from school, Rebecca, and they went over to the diner where he worked. Rebecca impressed him by buying hamburgers for the two of them, and they sat there for several hours while she made google eyes at him. He always wanted to see how far she would go, but she never gave him the chance. On the way home, he looked northward where the skies began to darken. He had seen this before, but thought it was a thunderstorm forming so he stepped on the pedals a little bit. The next thing he knew, he was engulfed in a familiar dust storm and could not see two feet in front of him. He got off his bike, put his shirt over his mouth and nose, and walked the rest of the way, a half mile, and arrived home. It was as if the whole world were about to end.
A few days went by and everyone was in a state of disbelief. The whole town of Dodge City, as well as Southern Kansas, Oklahoma, and Northern Texas, was under feet of dust and dirt. The stories that surfaced in the dailies were that of an apocalypse—the end of the world.
2
M elvin and Sally Bridges met in their hometown of St. Louis while they were in high school. Sally Medford grew up in the upper part of St. Louis, the daughter of a prominent banker; Melvin, on the South Side, his father a dockworker. He followed in his father’s footsteps, working on the docks until he was drafted in the army and sent overseas to France toward the end of World War I. He served for two months and received a leg wound and was returned to the States. He reunited with Sally, and they were married the following year, 1919. He worked on the docks of the Mississippi for a well-known textile businessman who traded in wool from the South. He made good money on the docks, working six days a week. The work was arduous, but he felt he was getting ahead of the game.
Sally had gotten pregnant at the end of their high school year, and she was the talk of her class. Her father and mother were distraught that she would still marry Melvin when he returned from the war, and they disowned her. She was unable to work and became anxious that Melvin might be killed in the war. When he returned, and they were married, she was the happiest woman on earth. But something was wrong with Melvin. He became agitated and disagreeable, with her and most everyone. They sat down one evening and hashed everything out. He told her that although he liked his work and was making good money, what he really wanted was to have a farm; to grow crops and live a more sedentary life.
It was June. He had a week’s vacation coming, and so they decided to take a ride into Nebraska and Kansas and see if there was something that appealed to him. He could check out what the farming community was all about.
When the time came to leave the train station, he told her they were going to make a side trip to Dodge City. Sally knew he was a great fan of the “Wild West.” She confronted him and said it would have wasted two days of a seven-day trip; that he must not be serious about changing his career—it was pure folly. He told her no, it would be for just one day, and that they would still head up to the Corn Belt in Nebraska, and maybe Iowa.
After a five-hour trip from St. Louis, they arrived in Dodge City and Melvin was like a kid in a candy store for the first time. They visited the famous saloon where the likes of Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and Doc Holliday convened. He roamed the streets and imagined how it was back in the days of the “Wild West.” They sat down in a diner and a gentleman approached them. He told them he was a real estate developer and salesman; that Dodge City was booming, and he showed them some brochures and paraphernalia. Melvin looked them over and told him he wasn’t really interested in settling in Dodge City, that he was moving north to Nebraska or maybe Iowa. The gentleman could see a bit of scorn in Sally’s eyes and brought out a picture of a piece of property with a nice little three-room house, and some property behind. He informed Melvin that he and Sally might want to look at the property out of town; that he might be able to make them a good deal if they were interested.
Melvin knew that Sally was becoming extremely irritated with him, so he asked the gentleman if he could have a few minutes of privacy to discuss this matter with Sally. After their talk, they decided they would go out there with the salesman.
The ride was a half mile out of town. Melvin noticed lots of cattle as they rode in the salesman’s car, and the salesman told them that Dodge City was indeed a cattle town, but there were lots of opportunities for farmers to subsidize themselves with wheat and sorghum, a wheat-growing plant. When they arrived at the farm, suddenly Sally fell in love with the house and Melvin with the six acres of wheat. Melvin asked why the price was so low, and the salesman told him of the family that owned it. The father had a bad gambling habit and ran up some debt that he couldn’t repay, and they abandoned the farm last year. He told Melvin that the bank was tired of serving the debt and could he—the salesman—please take