the promise of jenny jones by maggie osborne

The product of an unwanted and ostracised marriage between feuding families, old Mexican aristocracy Barrancas and new American landowners Sanders, little Graciela will be the heiress of an immense fortune once Marguarita is gone, and a long string of greedy and unscrupulous cousins is ready to kidnap her for ransom at best or to downright kill her to inherit in her stead at worst. With only few days in her, maybe hours, and having decided to confide in the reputation of an uncompromising word of honour, she's ready to take Jenny's place in front of the firing squad if only Jenny will promise to safely deliver her daughter Graciela to California and to Robert Sanders, her estranged husband and the child's father. Marguarita Sanders Barrancas is dying of consumption. But, for all the troubles it has always caused her, this time unwavering honesty might also mean salvation when a second chance at life arrives in the form of another young woman who too has nothing left to lose. Pleading for self-defence has been useless, as the sham court judging her was convinced no man in his right mind would have forced himself on the likes of Jenny, a mule-skinner, a freight-hauler, a coarse woman with more calluses on her hands than years on her shoulders. She could have lied, there were no witnesses, she could have said she didn't kill the soldier who tried to rape her, but she didn't. Her name is Jenny Jones and her unflinching honesty is what will have her face the firing squad come dawn. Inside a fetid prison on the rugged and dry land along the Mexican border, a young woman, who has nothing left to lose but a frayed dictionary in her pocket, is spending the last hours of her life waiting to be executed. It's just you and the promise.' - Jenny Jones 5 Unreserved, Heartfelt, Shiny Stars 'After you give a promise, see, the person you gave it to is out of the deal.

The promise of jenny jones by maggie osborne