Author: Shannon Skinner

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2010-08

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 9781453528952

White Dove is a story about a young lady by the name of Anne, who, at the age of ten, was living with her mother and grandfather. Anne's mother is abused by her father and beaten continually. Her mother's dreams are of finding a better life for her daughter and herself. In chapter 1, Anne and her mother leave and find such a dream. A wealthy woman by the name of Abigail Boyd hires her as her full-time seamstress, along with living accommodations and board. Here too her mother meets William Boyd, who is in the lumber business and is a lumber baron. Chapter 2 begins as Anne and her mother become acquainted with their new employers. Anne's mother becomes William Boyd's wife in a short time, fulfilling a dream for Anne. But upon arriving after a month's honeymoon, Anne sees a change in her mother. Her father was now restless and always away for long periods of time. Her mother was always unhappy. A wicked villain enters the story by the name of Zachary Taylor who preys on William Boyd's money and life. William Boyd loses his fortune to Zachary Taylor and loses his entire estate. He explains to Anne what had happened the day Zachary Taylor came to the estate to claim his prize. Anne swears she will return to it and reclaim it. Her father secretly hands her a leather-covered envelope and makes her promise to guard it with her life, for it is very valuable. Anne, her mother, and father set out on a new life, enduring pain, even a near-death situation. Her mother has a miscarriage. Her father becomes very upset and refuses to deal with it. After reaching their new surroundings, her mother is again pregnant within a month. During her arrival in California, her mother has a son but brings terrible heartbreak to his parents. He is killed in an accident. Anne's father leaves again and returns too late to find his wife has had another baby, and this time, it is a girl. They somehow find work on a beautiful ranch where Anne and her new sister could be free. It was to be Anne's inheritance! Anne is now a young woman and falls in love with a young man who is her neighbor's son who has come home from college. He has known Anna since she was in school as a shy but beautiful girl. He is a handsome man who is every girl's catch but has an eye for the one perfect girl, Anna. On a sunny summer day, he takes her for a carriage ride. It was like a meeting of old times, and they fall in love. After a short courtship, he proposes to her. Moreover, she accepts. After a short honeymoon, he leaves to fight a war and is captured by the Mexicans who are at war with the States. Anna is determined to search for him, only to find herself in danger. During the search, the Apache Indians hold her captive. And finally a chief's wife adopts her and makes her a warrior princess through training, becoming "White Dove." But she has to leave the village in order to escape the wrath of the chief, for she has a daughter, and not a son, to carry on his name. A friend travels with her, only to become ill after they are both raped by men who find them in a cabin they used as a shelter. Finally, after a few months, her friend dies and leaves her baby with the people who have taken care of them all this time. A fur trader tells her of hearing of a renegade tribe to the north that has white men who are slaves for them in their mines. One is a soldier who may be her husband. During their travels, she proves that she is not only unafraid to go but is also a good shooter. Finding her husband alive but very ill and tortured, she wins his freedom in a contest. His freedom was won. A family is started, twin boys, one bearing the mark of a hawk. Anna's daughter, Little Dove, whom she now calls Sarah, sits beside her mother's bedside as she becomes ill and dies. And shortly after, she too becomes ill and passes away, leaving the two sons to continue with the business of carrying on the Falcon Ridge Winery, which is known to be the makers of the best champagne and wine in the world