Welcome to the initial installment of “First Acquaintance“.  It was early in the Fall of 1886, as the opening pages of “Rowena” unfolded, when this scene took place…

“The coach was comfortably warm, but, huddled next to the large, glowering man, the child’s appearance suggested that no amount of external warmth could dispel the chill that gripped her.  Her proximity to him, although not that of an offspring enjoying the security of a loving parent, was close enough to indicate that they were, in some way, attached.”

As the train neared it’s next stop, the little girl…

“…shivered and glanced up furtively.  “Garwood, Papa?”

The voice, matching the child in size, confirmed what her appearance implied.

With the man’s brusque nod, offering nothing more than annoyed acknowledgement, a second tremor gripped the tiny body; and, drawing her knees tight against herself, she moved closer to him.

Glaring down, he snapped: “Don’t get so close, child, you’ll muss my suit!”  He cuffed her leg with a huge hand.  “And get your feet off the seat.”

Blinking back the tears she obeyed, and sought to become one with the cushions.”

Who is this young character we’re introduced to in one of my Dad’s books?

“There were those who would have viewed her as merely wistful, but intuitive observation would have revealed a child, if not abused, acutely aware of being unwanted.  Had this not been so, in another time, she would have been a living Rockwell.“

If you had met Rowena May Bruanhauser, who was rapidly approaching her fifth birthday in the excerpts above, you probably would have been drawn to “the sprinkling of freckles, peppered across the dainty nose, and spilling out over her cheeks.”  To learn more about this young lady, destined for big things, check out an early post from the Facebook Page for Read My Dad’s Stuff.