Travelers in Painted Wagons

It is the early 1900's in rural Mississippi along Cohay Creek, where people are scarce and stately virgin pine timber is plentiful. Caleb Smitherlin, a talented blacksmith, has a wife dying of cancer and a teenage son who tries every way possible to please his critical father. Caleb is torn. On the one hand, he loves Mathilda with every bone in his body, but on the other, he needs the company of another woman.The Gypsies he allows to camp on his land near Cohay Creek receive hate and distrust from the people of Taylorsburg. Walthere, the Gypsy leader, and Rosalie, his wife, become close friends of the Smitherlin family, even though Gypsies rarely mix with people outside their clan and especially not gentiles. Esmeralda, the Gypsy fortune teller, encourages Red Felty's idea that his wife Ruby and Caleb Smitherlin are having an affair. The old Mayhew house on the edge of the slave cemetery is the perfect place for Ruby and her lover to meet. This story is filled with intrigue, adultery, drunkenness, bitterness, fights, sweetness, friendship, and some history-all woven together with phrases that will make you feel you are walking deep into the southern swamps of the Cohay Creek. You will find yourself listening for the sounds of the Cohay Swamp panther, wondering if there really is a slave cemetery and sharing the anger and desperation that Jeremy Smitherlin must feel with a dying mother and a father he cannot trust.Photo of Cohay Creek by David Dees, used with his permission.
About the Author: Sarah Walker Gorrell, the former owner and President of SWG Consulting, Inc., was for many years a Software Consultant specializing in the implementation of Payroll and Human Resources for clients. She now enjoys life on her front porch at the home designed and built by her husband on her family's old home place in south Mississippi, near Sullivan's Hollow and Cohay Creek. Her hobbies include freelance writing. She writes a column, titled "From the Front Porch," for the Taylorsville Post and a blog with the same name. She also enjoys spending time with her family and her two Pomeranians. She likes to study genealogy, and she loves to travel. Sarah is the Organist for her church, Taylorsville United Methodist Church, where her great-grandfather, the Rev. D. C. Langford, was one of the first pastors and where her grandparents were married in 1910. Mary Lou Gregg Cheatham Cooke began her life on a Mississippi farm north of Hot Coffee and south of Taylorsville. Her family spent their winter evenings playing games, reading, and conversing by the fireplace. Mary's parents, two of the world's greatest storytellers, bequeathed a legacy of yarn spinning to their children and grandchildren. When she was ten years old, she decided she wanted to be an author. Life took her down other paths. After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, she taught English in Greenville, Mississippi, and Ruston, Louisiana. Later she attended Louisiana Tech University and became a registered nurse. Although four of her books are a series, the Covington Chronicles, each book stands alone. The Chronicles-Secret Promise, The Courtship of Miss Loretta Larson, The Dream Bucket, and Manuela Blayne-depict life in rural and small town Mississippi in the early 1900's. During 2016, The Dream Bucket has frequently earned number one ranking in the Christian historical romance category, and Mary has earned a high sales ranking in historical fiction on Amazon. Abi of Cyrene, an inspirational novel, set in the time of Christ, continues to receive critical acclaim. Mary's novels are available in paperback, Kindle, and professionally recorded audible books. Mary Lou and Sarah have co-authored the fifth book in the series, Travelers in Painted Wagon on Cohay Creek.