The shout "giddap" starts the oxen down a path to the end of the world. For five months, and two thousand miles, the wagon train lumbers toward California on the Oregon Trail and into big trouble. The emigrants endure disease, dirt, and attacks from outlaws, and invaded Indians. Bitter strife erupts between ill-matched pioneers forced together by necessity.

The 1845 wagon train is part of a vast westward movement; a monument to Americana that fascinates readers 175 years later.

In one of the wagons is a heart-sick physician, Hannah Blanc, whose tribulations are Jobian: the suicide of a beloved husband, unfair denial of her medical career by graybeards of the profession, and a nightmarish new "marriage of necessity to a vile man named Ed Spencer.

The guide is a hard-to-figure mountain man, Nimrod Lee, who knows the trail, but is also looking a man he needs to kill. Guilt over the murder of his Crow wife beclouds his conscience. Betrayal of his word to her chief father threatens his life. The killer of his wife is still out there.

A love affair between Hannah and Nimrod is inevitable, but it's complicated, because for both, painful histories and mixed-up emotions make tall walls. The heart of the story is the pool of misgivings that threatens to drown their tenuous affair.

The wagon train is a village of strangers locked together with no escape.

Cholera is the killer and diarrhea is the tormentor. Mosquitoes are a biblical plague. The sun, the heat, the dust, the cold, the snow-all are partners in misery.

The last part of the trek is the most miserably. The dreaded Forty Mile Desert is all sand, sun and no water for days. The Sierra Nevada surprises with an early winter that takes their suffering to a higher plane.

Beyond all they must endure, the pioneers keep fighting, and keep coming. Those who make it are survivors; survivors with a great story to tell.

About the Author

Fred Dickey lives in Cardiff-by-the-Sea in San Diego County, California, and until recently was a special columnist and in-depth contributing writer for the Union-Tribune newspaper in San Diego. He has served as Sunday Editor, the San Jose Mercury News; Executive Editor, The Anchorage Times; Editor, the Oakland Tribune; and as an editorial manager of the San Diego Union. Among many other awards, Fred was twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He has been a published novelist, and a prolific magazine writer. One of his earlier books was printed in 6 languages. Fred is the founder and president of Public-Interest Media, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating educational video programs for at-risk youth. Fred travels the world, and is a ceaseless California explorer. He is interested in history, especially the Civil War era, California history, and the Oregon Trail era.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

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Established in 2009 SpeedyHen has built up a reputation for its quick, reliable service. We strive to ensure that our products are competitively priced and available to you from stock. All of our orders are dispatched via trackable services for piece of mind. Our dedication to customer service has helped to establish SpeedyHen as one of the market leaders in online book & physical music retailing. Please take a look at our huge range. Help is available from our polite customer service team for any questions you may have.

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All orders are dispatched with tracking infomation. Prioirty orders are dispatched via USPS Prioity which reduces delivery time to 2-4 working days.

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If you are a consumer you can cancel the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.

INFORMATION REGARDING THE RIGHT OF CANCELLATION

Statutory Right to cancel

You have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.

The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the the last good or the last lot or piece.

To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us, Speedy Hen LLC, Bank of America Tower, 50 North Laura Street, Suite 2600, 32202, Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A., 44 02031763829, of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail). You may use the attached model cancellation form, but it is not obligatory. You can also electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". If you use this option, we will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a cancellation on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.

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You shall send back the goods or hand them over to us or Speedy Hen LLC, 5205 NW 108th Ave, 33351, Sunrise, Florida, U.S.A., 44 02031763829, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your cancellation from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.

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The right of cancellation does not apply to:

the delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
the supply of digital content (including ebooks) which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not cancel it once delivery had started.

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To: (Speedy Hen LLC, Bank of America Tower, 50 North Laura Street, Suite 2600, 32202, Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A., 44 02031763829)

I/We (*) hereby give notice that I/We (*) withdraw from my/our (*) contract of sale of the following goods (*)/for the provision of the following goods (*)/for the provision of the following service (*),

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