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    Cowboys Spurred Into Love By Faith (Boxed Set of Four Christian Western Romances)
    Cowboys Spurred Into Love By Faith (Boxed Set of Four Christian Western Romances)
    Cowboys Spurred Into Love By Faith (Boxed Set of Four Christian Western Romances)
    Ebook224 pages3 hours

    Cowboys Spurred Into Love By Faith (Boxed Set of Four Christian Western Romances)

    By Helen Keating

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    About this ebook

    The Dark Cowboy, is about a distraught doctor who can take no more of sickness and death in cholera-ridden New York City, and he answers an ad in the Mail Order Brides section of the newspaper, from a woman seeking help on her ranch and friendship; but not marriage. He decides to keep his doctor past hidden, and his inexperience at everything that she had asked for, also hidden.

    Jordyn’s Lost Cowboy, is the emotional story of a woman who starts out by lying when she begins a correspondence with a rancher in Oregon who has advertised for a mail order bride. All she wants to do is get out west, learn how to run a ranch, then own one herself, just like she and her now deceased father had planned.

    Praying For A Cowboy, is about a woman and her sister who are sent out to Texas for one of them to be a mail order bride to a disabled war veteran rancher with one hand, and as a new mother to his two children. The rancher hadn’t known he could ever love again, but when he first saw Beth, he realized instantly that she would be the one to save him. His brother is there at the ranch and he realizes that he’s also in love with Beth’s sister. Their life and love together develops slowly, until something happens later that will change six lives forever.

    Maggie Falls Off A Train, is about an independent woman who travels from London to New York, in order to get a business degree and run her father’s business back in the old country. She falls sick and is advised by a doctor to take a semester off from the university and recuperate in California. As she gets off the train she faints, and literally falls into Tom’s arms. She finds out later why he just happened to be at the train station at that very moment in time.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSusan Hart
    Release dateSep 24, 2014
    ISBN9781311484093
    Cowboys Spurred Into Love By Faith (Boxed Set of Four Christian Western Romances)

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      Book preview

      Cowboys Spurred Into Love By Faith (Boxed Set of Four Christian Western Romances) - Helen Keating

      Cowboys Spurred Into Love By Faith

      By

      Helen Keating

      Copyright 2015 Helen Keating

      Smashwords Edition

      The Dark Cowboy

      Jordyn’s Lost Cowboy

      Praying For A Cowboy

      Maggie Falls Off A Train

      The Dark Cowboy

      Synopsis: The Dark Cowboy, is about a distraught doctor who can take no more of sickness and death in cholera-ridden New York City, and he answers an ad in the Mail Order Brides section of the newspaper, from a woman seeking help on her ranch and friendship; but not marriage. He decides to keep his doctor past hidden, and his inexperience at everything that she had asked for, also hidden.

      In the 1800s, New York City was booming. With the Erie Canal being completed in 1825, it brought the city to its height, making it a booming city with traders, bankers, ship-builders, crafts-men and every trade imaginable moving into the promised city. The city became home for immigrants from all over Europe, and by the year 1850, the city had grown in population by 46%.

      However, with the booming of the city, also came the side effects of its growth; diseases. From small pox, yellow fever, measles, malaria to the dreadful cholera, the city was hit like no other, and because of all the growth that had come into the city, the diseases flourished and became quite common. Many diseases were seasonal, and they would hit suddenly, stay to an unusual extent, and then disappear.

      The hundreds of thousands of traders that had come from ports from all over the world had brought the deadly diseases with them, leaving the city in horror at the consequences of its prosperity. This opened the gates of any quack doctor to experiment with his own ideas. Many of the laws that once stood regarding practicing medicine went out the window, and it took only the word of one who claimed he was a doctor, half the time they were not even checked out first.

      Their so-called practices were, at the most; experiments, and they always caused more harm than good.

      The diseases quickly spread, while a city was ravaged with no real evidence of any kind of treatment.

      Because many residents that came down with the dreadful disease, Cholera, the diseases was blamed on the poor. Cholera actually came from contamination of water and food and came with horrible ailments such as diarrhea and vomiting that led to dehydration, which then led to death.

      The medical field at that time had no teachings in cleanliness and the importance of clean water was not thought about, which brought the disease to its core of death. When people were being cared for, the most important precautions were ignored, such as making sure they would receive clean water. Sanitary measures were ignored.

      Cholera hit in 1832 and traveled from the trade routes from India, through Russia and Europe, to across the Atlantic and into Canada and on down the Hudson River Valley. Thousands and thousands died within a weeks’ time when it hit.

      A massive overcrowding occurred in the city, and it wasn’t just of humans, but also of livestock. Horses and pigs were let to run loose, creating stench and foul traces of their uses; not only from the animals themselves, but also from tanneries, slaughterhouses and the likes that dirtied the streets and the air.

      Outhouses were used for the human population as well, and were built in between other buildings, while even up to dozens of families sharing the same ones. Municipal sanitation services were close to none, and this left the poor people of white and black to take on the tasks for very low wages.

      Many who were very well off were able to leave New York City when they heard Cholera was on its way, but this left many more that could not afford to escape its path. Cholera hit again in 1849 and yet again with a vengeance in 1866, and it was not until then that the medical field finally began learning how to contain cholera. Numerous doctors and nurses during the years of cholera had reached the limits of patience, and many had lost their minds and even left their careers due to the exhaustion of not being able to save such a huge number of people.

      One doctor in particular, Dr. Paul Westcott, finally decided that he no longer wanted to be a doctor, and as he had watched his patients die, one after another, so he began trying to find ways in which he could leave New York City and his livelihood as well.

      This is a story about Dr. Westcott and his long dedication to medicine and healing people and how the rage of cholera caused him to seek out a life of remaining hidden. It became his greatest desire to run as fast and far as he could away from New York City and to find a way to lay down his medicine bag, finally.

      Going back to the year of 1849 when cholera had reached New York City for the second time, Dr. Westcott was only a thirty-year-old medical doctor who had finished his studies and exams mere years after the disease hit the city the first time.

      He was well aware that he had not received enough training for such a disease, but he devoted his life to saving who he could save.

      He had left his schooling at a young age of sixteen due to his teacher recommending him for the medical field and he was considered high above his fellow peers in school and was released from high school early and sent to a medical college in New York City.

      Just as he had finished his exams, he moved out on his own and began looking for a practice. Only months later would he be thrown into a world of a horrific experience that would devastate him totally. Then, on June 26th, 1849, an Irishman would fall deathly ill. His wife and children died to the disease, leaving him to survive alone.

      Over the following two weeks, cases spread like wildfire. Within a two-month period, the disease would kill 3,500 residents of New York City. Since the disease first struck within the poor communities, the nation became convinced that it was a poor man’s disease. The poor were soon accused of being full of sin and this was their punishment, and sadly, many were left completely untreated.

      The victims of cholera who came from the rich class were kept secret and the ones being reported were only the poor. This did not help matters in trying to fight the killer, and it only made things more difficult, plus, doctors weren't united in their approach to the illness. This caused a war within the medical field, as one would take the side of the rich, leaving other medical doctors defending the poor.

      To add to the problem was the fact that the medical field was not very advanced at this early stage in history and instead of understanding what the disease was and where it came from, they made themselves excuses that only picked on the poor. They did not believe that cholera was contagious for a long time and this, of course, made things much worse.

      Nurses were very scarce and to find one who was willing to stand alongside a doctor in treating victims was quite rare. There also were not places to care for the victims in New York City, while owners of buildings were too afraid to offer a place.

      The doctors who were willing to care for the sick were made to travel from place to place because there were no hospitals available, no room for the abundance of sick people. Many physicians fell sick to cholera as well, due to a lack of knowledge in the medical field.

      Doctor Westcott happened to be one of the doctors that sided with the poor and found it quite demonic to blame any class for such a disease. He turned his life into a battlefield for helping the minorities and the poor. He had no office by the time cholera had arrived in force, so he spent his time traveling to the homes of those who were sick.

      Many at that time had even lost their homes due to being evicted because they were sick, and Doctor Westcott made his way through the streets and back allies, day after day.

      A friend of his took him in, giving him a resting place, and this was the only comfort that Paul Westcott ever received during his years as a doctor in New York City. He managed to get through six months straight of tending to patient after patient, and by the time the end of the year had come, he had lost every ounce of belief in himself.

      He felt that he had failed his patients and as he watched one after another die, he lost many he had cared for. He did not intend to join the ranks of other doctors who were more about talking about the disease than caring for the victims. He had no intention of staying around to watch the disease come to town again and he decided that he would move on, lay down his bag, and find a new life, far from the clutches of the fallen city.

      As he stumbled through the streets, his head held low because of his own shame, he noticed a man standing on the side of the street who was holding up papers in his hand. The man began hollering about opportunities across the country and to Come, see what else there is to behold!

      Paul Westcott stopped in his tracks and thought to himself Why not? and he wandered over to the man, handing him a few bits of change, took the paper, and headed back to his lonely apartment. As he threw his bag into the dark corner of the room, he slid himself down into a tiny chair and laid his head upon his hands in disgust.

      Then he remembered the paper that he had just bought and he laid it down and opened to the first page.

      He was looking at every report he could see just so he could get his mind off his weary life. As he struggled through the paper, he made his way back to the last page, which was advertising slots being filled by everything imaginable.

      Just before he closed the paper, he noticed the words: Mail Order Brides and he found himself peeking at what it could be. Of course, he was thinking that this was only for women and must be something not so decent, so he shut the paper and sighed at how bad the world had gotten.

      Rising from his chair, he then went to make himself a cup of hot tea. Slowly returning to his chair, his poor body crawled its way to rest. As he sat, once again picking up the paper, he found himself falling asleep at the table.

      It was only an hour later when he awoke, that he truly became attracted to the ad. Stretching his aching limbs and rubbing his eyes, he re arranged his reading glasses and laid the paper down in front of him. As he read one ad after another, he was entranced with wonder about why people would set them up for hurt and disappointment. It made no sense to him until he came across a single, very simple ad that read:

      "Looking for a committed partner in life that would be willing to respect and willing to accept respect. I am a single widowed woman, left behind by a loving and loyal husband who understood the meaning of love and devotion. He left me with an overwhelming amount of land to be farmed and though I have carried on for several years, I no longer see myself able to fulfill his desires of keeping our farm.

      I am not looking for a romantic love, only a bound friendship built on trust and commitment. I will furnish good meals, shelter and companionship for the return services of helping me farm and a trustworthy friendship.

      As Paul sat staring at the most promising words he had ever heard, he immediately sunk into tears. It felt as if the ad was a Godsend in his most dire time of need. After his time dealing with victims of cholera and other ravaging diseases, his poor body had taken its toll, and he felt that he was aging swiftly.

      He had often wondered if, even at his young age, if he would be able to ever give what it would take to provide a good woman with a strong successful husband. This woman seemed to be offering something very safe. At the time he did not feel that he could offer a woman his hand in marriage, but he felt he could offer a trusting and respectful relationship, and this would be a way that he could truly lay down his bag of medicine, ignoring what he had believed was his calling.

      Tears rolling down both sides of his face, he fell to his knees in a weakness he had never known. As he cried out, he found himself pleading with God to open the door to this one need he had. He found himself making promises to God that he would be whatever this woman needed in friendship and hard work. He was desperate to put aside being responsible for any more patients.

      Instead, he was ready to devote his hands to work, hiding from his past. When he was finished and found his way back to his chair, he remembered feeling nothing and hearing nothing from his pleas, but he found a way to carry on with the new found idea.

      As he walked over to the couch across the room, he laid down his weary body and fell into dreams of a new life, one without sickness and turmoil and without the smell of death.

      Upon waking up, he felt a rush of energy that he had not felt in a long time and he scurried around getting things in order, and grabbing a pen and paper, he began his short answer to the ad. He offered to this woman his services and his promises to do his best to fulfill her requests. He felt a twinge of pull on his heart when he found himself lying to the woman as he told her that he came from a farming background, knowing full well that he had no idea what farming was about.

      However, he signed the short letter, sealed it and headed back to the mail store, with hope in his heart.

      The woman, who had placed the ad through desperation, lived in DeKalb, near Alexandria Tennessee. She had been in love before and through sickness, she lost her love. Promising to never marry again, she held onto that promise and started her life alone and very lonely. Her husband Phillip had succumbed to Yellow Fever at a young age of twenty-five, and it left her devastated with way too much responsibility.

      As her heart continued in grief, she finally raised herself from the bedroom that she had shared with her adored husband, dressed herself, and began trying to plow a field.

      This life she kept up for several years, until the day came when she could no longer tend to the strenuous errands alone. Out of pure desperation and commitment to her fallen husband, she would try to save their home and farm.

      She would go against her principals to share her home with another person, and she would offer to some lone man a place to live, and food to eat in return for his services of taking half the burden of farming. As she wiped the tears from her eyes, she would re gain her focus and finish writing her ad for a Mail Order Groom.

      As she entered the mail store, she asked them once again if she could place it under a different column and not a Mail Order Bride one, and again she was told no, that would be the only spot to make her post. Therefore, she sighed and handed it over to the attendant, feeling embarrassed and a bit fearful of getting an answer.

      Weeks later, she received an answer from her ad she had placed and as she sat at her kitchen table, she hesitantly opened the letter to read the words from a Paul Westcott. With her eyes wide open; excitement hit her as well as fears, and she read his stance of his reply. After she had finished, she quickly went to throw away the letter, placing it in the trash container outside the door.

      She then hurried off to the bedroom to find solace from within. As she lay across the bed where she had shared good years with her late husband, she began crying out to God about the predicament she had put herself in.

      She began asking Him for forgiveness for sending off such an ad, and was waiting tearfully for a feeling of forgiveness. Pushing herself to feel guilty, she angrily tugged at her conscience, hoping to punish herself for such a deceitful work that she had done.

      Nevertheless, she just wasn’t getting the results she was seeking. As she sat up with her head in her hands, she heard the words Fear not, for I am with thee. This is all she would hear for a few days. She couldn’t understand the words that kept whispering through her head, until she then heard I shall send you a friend.

      Katie Darby had suffered long enough and she'd been working her fingers to the bone, day after day. She had remained faithful, both to her husband and to her God, and now she was being told I shall send you a friend. She couldn’t accept this answer, and couldn’t understand it, until she realized that God had told her that.

      He would send her a friend, not a husband, not a man; but a friend. This is when the idea began to appeal to her and she was able to accept it. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she stood up with a different attitude and she decided to step out in faith.

      She would respond to the man named Paul Westcott. Therefore, she ran back to the trash container, pulled the letter out and at once sat down and accepts his reply. This is the beginning of a relationship between a lonely and broken Doctor, and a lonely and broken widow, thousands of miles apart.

      New York City

      Paul Westcott had stepped out in desperation and answered an ad that made the woman sound as desperate as he

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