The Whiskey Creek Water Company - Softcover

Walker, Jan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0984840052 ISBN 13: 9780984840052

Publisher: Plicata Press, 2013

Synopsis

November, 1932, Burke Bay on Puget Sound - Local Indians called the natural spring burbling up in the forest "Spirit water." Scandinavian settlers took that to mean whiskey and named the stream flowing from the spring "Whiskey Creek." Rumor has it the creek's name attracted the dark stranger, Farley Price, who disrupted life in the community. Minutes after school teacher Maeva Swanson first hears the stranger's name, she meets his daughter, a child who loves books, and ignores concerns about the man, especially those proffered by her fiance, boat captain Axel Jenson. Orval Blevins, who owns the creek headwaters, distills a fine product and hires the stranger to handle delivery. Eleanor Price, the strangers wife, suffers abuse at his hands but grows to love the community and strive to remain there. Bachelor brothers, Hauk and Lang Nordlund, are quiet observers attracted to unavailable women - Maeva and Eleanor. They bide their time, waiting for the inevitable showdown with Farley Price.

About this title

From the Author

Burke Bay, the central setting for The Whiskey Creek Water Company, is the name of the small bay at Brownsville, Washington. Brownsville, in Kitsap County, is on the west side of Puget Sound, across from Seattle, with Bainbridge Island lying between.
Descriptions of the dock, tavern, mercantile and grade school(now a Grange hall) are accurate for the time, though none of them had Burke Bay in their name.
Hidden Valley of the story is based on Central Valley. There is a creek that meanders through the area, though I rerouted it and renamed it to suit the story. The cemetery mentioned is based on Island Lake Cemetery as I remember it from my childhood when it was a heavily wooded place.
The passenger launch, the Aggie J, is based on the Chickeree.
The plank road that plays a part in the story was replaced with a graded and blacktop road after World War II.
Kitsap County's historical writings mention several stills in the Silverdale and Central Valley area, and the difficulty revenuers had getting through wooded land and thick underbrush to locate them.
Though I didn't live through the Great Depression, my parents often mentioned that our family fared well thanks to the land and location. They grew their own vegetables and berries, maintained fruit trees, and relied on fish, clams and wild game to help provide nutritious meals.
And, as my dad always said, we had darn good water.

From the Back Cover

November, 1932, Burke Bay on Puget Sound--Local Indians called the natural spring burbling up in the forest spirit water. Scandinavian settlers took that to mean whiskey and named the stream flowing from the spring Whiskey Creek. Rumor has it the creek attracted the dark cloaked stranger who disrupted life in the community.
  Farley Price, the dark cloaked stranger, hires on at a dairy farm on Whiskey Creek. He arrives in a sand-color coupe with his battered wife and waif-like child.
Maeva Swanson, school teacher, enrolls the girl in school, befriends Farley's wife and champions the family against naysayers led by her boat captain fiancé.
Orval Blevins, owner of Whiskey Creek headwaters, distills a fine product and needs one good legger and a souped up car to handle delivery.
Eleanor Price is biding her time, hoping Farley will disappear and leave her to the life she's building so far from her family's Kansas ranch.
Hauk and Lang Nordlund, bachelor brothers new to the community, are quiet observers who find themselves attracted to unavailable women.
The characters and setting blend together to brew an honest look at Depression era life in a small Puget Sound community.

About this edition

• Publisher: Plicata Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0984840052
• ISBN 13: 9780984840052
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336