My Darling Clementine and Dreadful Sorry, Clementine are now published on Amazon and are also available in Kindle Unlimited. Get your copies now!
Clem Dennison, 23, lives as a man among men, passing as a male prospector in California where she is a respected author writing popular articles about the gold rush and the colorful people of the wild west. After a disturbing visit back east, she makes plans to return to the gold fields, joining a late-season wagon train headed for Sacramento. On the long train ride from Boston, she notices a fascinating young lady.
Kizzy Walker, 18, escapes her life in dreary Rocheport as the minister’s scandalous daughter, and jumps on the next train leaving. She arrives in Independence, Missouri as a single woman, alone, her only plan to chase the gold fever driving her west. While considering her limited options, she sees Clem and recognizes her as a woman who is passing. Kizzy chases her into the dark night to confront her, making herself a target for ruthless men.
Clem rescues the inexperienced, beautiful, impulsive woman, and finds herself in a passionate embrace. Kizzy gives her a key to her hotel room and invites her to visit after everyone’s asleep. She takes that chance and meets a woman unlike any other. No one else has ever seen through Clem before, much less thrown themselves into her arms.
She agrees to take Kizzy with her to California and teach her how to pan for gold, if the fascinating woman will marry her the next day, so they can travel in the wagon train as man and wife.
Both and Neither
Following My Darling Clementine, the second half of the story continues with Dreadful Sorry, Clementine. It’s 1848 and the Dennisons are traveling as a married couple by covered wagon to reach the gold rush in California.
Clem, a prospector and writer who’s passing for a man, is cautious by nature. A loner by choice, she makes plans and prefers being prepared, dealing with life on her own terms. She surprised herself when she proposed one night and was married the next.
Kizzy, her spirited and impulsive wife, is unprepared for the dangers on the trail, but willing to do what it takes to chase her dream. She learns to fight and proves it at a dance, gets taken in by Jim Bridger’s tall tales, and assists the royal physician to a four-year-old king, experiencing both life and death.
During their journey, the Dennisons make friends, take on responsibility, and earn unexpected respectability. Life seems sweet, their lesbian sex is explosive, and they grow ever closer, sharing their dreams and encouraging one another. Each is falling in love with the other, but neither will say so. After all, their marriage is based on an agreement to reach gold territory. Each thinks the other will leave once they reach their destination.
Can Clem and Kizzy overcome their insecurities and speak up in time? Or will illness, claim jumpers, and a sensual shaman tear them apart?
