A Piece of the Wind

By Jeannette Loyena and Leslie Pilcher

Fanny & Ellis Hammond had lived hard lives, as had their families before them. Destroyed and uprooted by the Civil War, their people had moved west from Georgia & Tennessee to the Arkansas Ozarks. They toiled to make homes for their families in a hostile wilderness, but the gales of hard times blew relentlessly in their faces. And they moved on. Younger generations struck out on their own and moved westward. Fanny & Ellis packed their young family in a Conestoga wagon and set out for Oklahoma where they survived more tornadoes and fires and bad luck. But, they always kept within their grasp a love of family, a sense of humor and an abiding faith. Finally, even Oklahoma beat them down and they pushed on to Colorado.The early Hammonds raised carriage horses, and they brought this trade with them to Arkansas. They had a magnificent stallion, Zeke, who, with carefully selected mares, could sire the giant, strong animals needed to pull wagons and carriages. It was all in the breeding. But Zeke had another gift. He could run faster than any horse around. They couldn't test him often because he was too critical to the survival of the family. But, occasionally -- rarely --they got a chance to see what he could do. And, riding Zeke at a dead run was one of life's thrilling sensations -- like owning a piece of the wind for just a minute or two.This tale comes to center on one woman, Fanny Helton Hammond, and how her unrelenting drive and courage, along with a fair amount of humor and spunk, kept her family strong and happy as they fought off wave after wave of misfortune. This is an American story which is probably more typical than exceptional. Most of our ancestors didn't strike it rich or become famous. They were just part of the millions of American families trying to survive in a new land and build a future for their children. And maybe, just maybe, own a little piece of the wind along the way.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 172498635X
• ISBN13: 9781724986351
• Release Date: August 2018
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 346 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.9" x 6.0"