The Settlers

A Short Historical Story From New Zealand

A perilous voyage by sea, the difficulties of life in a new country, new friends, and one terrible event, challenge Mette Jensen as she leaves her home in Haderslev, Schleswig determined to start a new life beyond the reach of Prussian Soldiers.

With Denmark still reeling from the effects of war over the ownership of Schleswig, two Danish sisters make the difficult decision to leave their homeland. The men of Schleswig, on the border between Denmark and Germany, have already left in droves to avoid being drafted into the Prussian army, and a recruiter from New Zealand has been traveling throughout the country searching for strong immigrants skilled with axes to build the new country.

Mette and Maren Jensen are especially drawn to the place where Ditlev Monrad, the Danish Prime Minister, settled a decade earlier following the Second Schleswig War. And they plan to start their new lives in the town he founded, a new settlement in the North Island of New Zealand named Palmerston.

By chance, another man has settled in that town: an ex-soldier named Sergeant Frank Hardy who has left the army, disgusted by what he has seen.

This prequel covers the months before Mette Jensen meets the man who will change her life. A war-torn country with few marriageable men, a harrowing trip by sea to the far side of the world, and a long walk across swampy, mosquito-infested land with a group of fellow settlers will come before the paths of Mette Jensen and Sergeant Frank Hardy cross.

NOTE: THIS IS A SHORT HISTORICAL FICTION STORY, AND NOT A MYSTERY.