Irishman Sean Flood
survived the potato famine, crossing the Atlantic, the Mexican-American War,
and wandering the Western wilderness with his mules and freight wagon. But, due to poor diet and deprivation, his teeth did not fare well. It’s November of
1854 in Columbia, California, Queen of the Southern Mines, a city Sean is helping to rebuild after the disastrous fire the previous summer. Intense stabbing tooth pain drives him to see Doc Massey, the local dentist. He first stops
by the mercantile to pick up a bottle of whiskey—for medicinal purposes—and food he’ll be able to eat when it’s all over. If only the beautiful but aggravating
woman ahead of him who keeps her face half hidden and insists she won’t accept charity would finish up with her purchase so he can get his supplies, his tooth pulled and return home to his mules and half-built cabin….
year. Sean is a full-grown man and he’s not too old for Christmas. He not only plans to come bearing gifts to Christmas Eve dinner with the McNairs, but he knows exactly what gift he wants for himself.
blankets inside the steep-sided
![]() |
Carriage house at Columbia State Park |
freight wagon that served as his bedroom, Sean sensed the inside of the barn grow brighter as someone opened the door. He threw his arm over his squeezed-tight eyes and groaned as the pounding headache topped by a touch of nausea hit him full force.
About the Author:
Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn Echols for her historical novels.
The author
currently lives with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” She
is a member of Women Writing the West, American Night Writers Association, and
Modesto Writers Meet Up. She currently lives with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” She enjoys any kind of history including family history. When she is not piecing together novel plots, she pieces together quilt blocks.