The Sad and Dreary Tale of Eleonor Wingarten (ePub)

Claude Wingarten was a trapper, and a darn good one. Life for him was good, with one exception: his first-born, and only, child, was a girl. Eleonor 'Leo' was raised as the son her father never had but always wanted.
Life during the Civil War and mass migration to settle the south was hard enough, but even more so if you were a young woman being raised in the middle of nowhere. Young Eleonor thought she'd never find a suitable husband in the midst of the wilds.
Likewise, Bruce Hennig, Sr, who became Claude's best friend when he saved Claude from being attacked and killed by a bear during a trapping escapade, thought his son, Bruce, Jr, would never find a suitable wife. Even though Bruce Hennig, Jr was raised the same as Eleonor Wingarten, he, too, was what his father considered as a little odd. The young Hennig showed more of an aptitude at carpentry, rather than the skills needed to be a trapper.
When the two youngsters were finally brought together, a love that neither of their fathers ever thought would happen, came into full bloom. Before long, the two were married, and their union was blissful, at least for a while. Bruce, Jr found himself with a strong urge to go hunting for the first time in his life, and his mood toward life, his home and his wife changed, and not for the better. Eleonor found herself wondering if the choice she made was the right one after all.