The Schoolteacher and the Bad Boy

The year is 1905, and Sarah Wendal has been left a penniless young woman, due to the unexpected death of her father. Unwilling to settle for an ill-suited, arranged marriage—or an even more ill-fitting job in her small, northeastern town—Sarah responds to a want ad for a schoolteacher in far-off Wickenburg, Arizona. Despite her inexperience, she is offered the job, and she accepts. Following a long and somewhat frightening train ride, Sarah arrives in Wickenburg to realize the town is not all she had hoped for. Not only is it hot and dusty but the people are rude, namely a Mr. James Brown, who almost knocks her over at the station. Despite a rough start, she finds a safe place to live, under the watchful eye of her Christian landlady, Mrs. Mary Bradley. Sarah throws herself whole-heartedly into her work, and the children of Wickenburg are taken with her. As she falls in love with her job, her feelings for the odious James Brown start to change as well. She senses God leading her in strange directions, and walking by faith, she bravely travels her new path. Maybe Wickenburg isn’t so bad after all; maybe the small town is the place she was always meant to be.