Andi's Friends

Taffy my palomino mare has been my "best friend" since I was 6 years old. I can talk to her, and she always seems to understand. She's 15 hands high, with white "socks" and a blaze on her nose. Some folks say I love Taffy more than I love some people. That might not be totally true, but it's pretty close. Read more

Cory Blake is one of my best friends. He has a head full of straw-colored hair and michievous gray-blue eyes. Cory is a friendly fellow and loves to play good-natured jokes on me and on his classmates in general. He doesn't take school very seriously because the lessons are difficult for him. He'd much rather be working alongside his father at the livery or racing around the country looking for adventure. Read more

Rosa Garduno is mys best friend. She comes from a tiny village in northern Mexico. She is one of five children, but only she and her brother Joselito have survived the harsh life of a peasant family. The Garduno family eventually found a welcome and steady work on the Circle C ranch. Rosa has shiny black braids, black eyes, and is a cautious, sensible girl. She's a good balance for my impulsiveness, if only I would listen. Read more

Virginia Foster and I did not start off as friends. As the new teacher's daughter, Virginia appeared to hold a deep grudge against me for nearly trampling her father during an impromptu horserace through town. However, we have resolved our differences, and while we're not best friends, we are getting along much better than before. Virginia has pale blond hair, dark gray eyes, and is a bright student. Read more

Lin Mei comes from Canton, China. As a little girl of only five years old, she was sold by her gambling father in China to a woman, who brought her to the United States and sold her as a slave to Feng Chee, the cook at Miss Whitaker's Academy for Young Ladies in San Francisco, CA. I met her while attending school in the winter of 1881. Fearing that Lin Mei might be sold again, I helped rescue her. The little girl now lives at the Mission Home for girls on Sacramento Street, where she is safe at last. Read more

Jenny Grant was my roommate for two terms at our boarding school in San Francisco. Jenny comes from Washington Territory, and spent one year at the academy. Her father is a rich sawmill owner in Tacoma, and her brothers (five of them) are loggers. Jenny's mother wanted her daughter to have some finer education. Jenny is a rought-and-tumble girl, and possibly even more impulsive than I am.  She has bright red hair and brown eyes. Jenny and I are good friends. Read more

Juan Carlos is the stable boy for the young ladies' academy, where I attended school for two terms in 1881. Although his grandfather was an important Spanish don years ago, those days are over and Juan Carlos must work hard to support his mother and younger sisters. He is 16 years old and befriends me on my first day of school. He treats me like a little sister, which is comfortable and familiar. Read more