The Vicky Series: Book 1: Chasing a Dream

Chapter 01

Lakeside, Vermont - Summer 1857

"Abigail! The situation isn't as bad as that. You know I have father under control. He isn't going to marry me off, not while..."

"Victoria, I don't like it either, but that does not make it any less true. This is probably your last summer in Lakeside. Do you really think that you can put your father off forever? You'll have suitors lined up before this summer is through unless I miss my guess!"

"Abigail..." Victoria clamped her mouth closed as she followed her best friend into the mercantile, concluding that it was not the best place to continue the conversation. After several minutes of the enduring the stifling heat in the confines of the store, she decided to seek comfort out of doors.

Victoria Elizabeth Bradley opened her parasol as she stepped out of the shop. Her high laced boots clicked on the covered boardwalk. She flicked her wrist to open her lace fan in an attempt to create a breeze where there was none. Fashionably dressed or not, she felt smothered.

Maybe it was just the infernal heat, or the unbearable humidity. Maybe it was more than the weather that made her feel like she was unable to draw a breath. She had to admit, albeit never aloud, that she agreed with Abigail's assessment of her future, especially if her father had anything to do with it.

For three years now, she put her father off, dissuading him from arranging suitors. Now that she was nearly finished with her education, and well past the age when most girls in good society were wed, her father would no doubt set aside her objections and arrange a suitable marriage for her. She stiffened her spine and lifted her chin. In silent defiance her thoughts declared boldly "Not if I can at help it!"

Turning to look through the window, she saw Abigail deep in discussion with the clerk. Shifting her parasol, she scanned the other side of the street, seeing nothing as her thoughts carried her attention away. She knew she would marry someday. Every girl does...except for the old maids.

She frowned a little at the thought of becoming an old maid, passed over by suitors to remain unwed and barren the whole of her lonely life. She shook her head. She still had plenty of time. Besides which fact, she was content to remain in the comfortable category betwixt and between.

She was old enough to be invited to the summer galas and most of the social gatherings. Likewise she remained too young to be included in the adult (and in her opinion rather dreary) agenda expected of women of gentility. It was a fortuitous circumstance that conveniently left her available to spend her time as she deemed appropriate.

The pounding of footsteps on the boardwalk brought her abruptly to the present just in time to step out of the way. A young boy ran past, jumped off the boardwalk, and flew down the street leaving a trail of dust in his wake before he dove around the next corner.

Running feet again pounded the boardwalk. Turning back, her eyes grew wide. Gasping she pressed back against the window just in time to avoid being knocked to the ground as four more boys barreled past.

She shook her head and straightened her skirts. Another look through the window confirmed that Abigail was unaware of the whole noisy affair. Looking down the street she glimpsed the last of the boys disappearing around the next corner. Absently she began to pace, thoughtlessly twirling her parasol.

She knew those boys. They were year-rounders, unlike Victoria's own family who had been spending the summers here in Lakeside for as long as she could remember. If anyone had asked her opinion, which of course they had not, this year she would have preferred to stay home.

Home was Rosewood, Massachusetts, a small out-of-the-way of town. It was actually very near the border just a little north of Providence, Rhode Island. She smiled when she thought of their beautiful old home and her own room there, just the way she liked it.