Rebekah Lyn

Go West~Chapter 46

Chapter 46 on Track

Go West

by DiVoran Lites

Chapter Forty Six

Aldon

When Aldon realized he was shivering, he thought he’d better get the quilt over his legs. He found the board Nancy used to cut food on and set himself up on the cot. In a few moments warmth crept into his body and he began writing his letter to God.

Dear Heavenly Father,

The line-cabin is chilly, but I don’t mean to complain. I came away so fast after seeing Ellie and Enrico that I forgot my jacket, my bedroll, and my sidearm. When Molly took me to see what was going on between the two of them, she had my best interests at heart, but, Lord, I wish I’d never seen it. Sir, now that I have a chance to start thinking instead of only reacting, I know I’m as desperate as a misused bronc and as unseeing as a newborn kitten. I need your help.

As you know, heavenly father, we got a letter from Bill that told us he was heading home. I’m sure you know that he has a wife and that he has been married for almost a year. I wish I had known he’d be here to take care of the ranch, Nancy and Molly. I could have asked Ellie to marry me. I could have gone to California and got a job as wrangler with the movies. It’s all too late. Ellie will be gone. Joe and Dieter will marry, but I’ll be alone for the rest of my life. I should have told Ellie that I love her. I don’t care if she is a mehanician from back East, a flapper, or a society lady. She is smart, kind, loving, and wonderful, and I was a fool to miss my chance with her. Protect her, please, Lord, or Enrico Solano, will break her heart. She doesn’t deserve that. It helps to talk to you. I know you hear, and I know you will answer, thank you.

Now, as always when he was finished telling the Lord how he felt, and asking him for help, he began to feel his spirits lift. A different concern seeped into his mind. He recalled a pastor once quoting someone who said, “Do the next thing.” What was the next thing? Oh, yes, he had to deal with the rustlers. He sat with the pencil in his hand until he could think out a plan. Suddenly the whole story was clear. He jumped up and checked the cabin, then seeing again his letter, picked it up. He turned it over, and read Ellie’s list again. Knowing no one could see him, he lifted it and gently kissed the place where it said, Glacier Lilies. Then as he scanned his own writing, more peace flooded back into his soul. Folding the paper into a small packet, he snapped it into the breast pocket of his shirt where it would be safe. He could read it again if he started to slide into the quicksand of self-pity. He whispered another prayer to the only person in the cabin with him, the Holy Spirit.

He grabbed his hat, and ran out to Chief. He was so embarrassed to see that he had left him saddled and uncombed, that he promised him to ride gently and to dish out some extra oats when they got to town

As he rode he tried to put thoughts of Ellie out of his mind. One thing he did know, though: he still loved her. But I also know, Lord, that it won’t do any good to try to hang on to her, even in my mind. She has made her choice and I have to live with it.

His God assignment, as he saw it, became more urgent as he headed down the mountain. He must see Sheriff Oates to talk before someone from the round-up, probably Dieter, got on the party line and told the whole valley about the attack. Aldon knew the men who lived here, and knew they’d deal harshly with the young rustlers. They would, without thought or conscience, become outlaws to protect their livelihood.

He and Chief picked their way down the upper slopes and onto the road past the ranch. The sun had begun its slow ascent over the peaks but as he passed the ranch, he knew he didn’t want to wake anyone. Maybe Ellie was already in the kitchen, but he wasn’t ready to see her, so instead of stopping for an automobile, he urged Chief who was acting frisky to move past the ranch at a canter.

He rode through the sleeping town to the church where Quentin Rudd had recently risen from his bed. The pastor invited Aldon to stay for breakfast, but all he’d come for was to tell him where he’d be in case anyone was looking for him.

When he stopped at the Fitzgeralds, he asked Mr. Fitzgerald to take Chief to the livery, unsaddle him and comb him down. He walked the few blocks to the railroad station and boarded the train when it came. He slept a little. When the train pulled into the Artesia station, he got down. Soon he was on the main street of Artesia, leaning against the hitching post across the street from the Sheriff’s office, waiting for Oates to come down and unlock the door.

DiVoran’s Promise Posters, Paintings from Go West as well as other art can be purchased as note cards and framable art

Creative Arts

Bertie O’Brien and the Button Factory by Jessica Strong – Author | The GUNDERSTONE review

The Clean Indie Reads Face Book author group I am a part of, lost a special member, Jess Strong, this week to an untimely death. We are trying to honor her memory by mounting a campaign for folks to download one or more of her books on December 26, 2016. Be sure to click at the bottom to read Jason’s post.

I put up a post yesterday about the sudden passing of author Jessica Strong who I know through the Clean Indie Reads Facebook group. In that post I outlined that the Clean Indie Reads group is pushing an effort to get our membership that are interested to do a little something in memory of her. On December 26th, as a little remembrance / coordinated effort to do something to honor her passing, we are going to buy her books all on that day. As part of my own comments in that thread I said “I’d like to think we could get her to #1 with a coordinated effort such as this on Saturday 12/26…” “If I lived nearby and brought flowers or something to the family to say goodbye, I would spend so much more (and it would be equally worth it).”

So that is what I am going to do. I am going to log in at 9AM EST, “drop” $16.00, and get all her books.

Between now and then, I am going to showcase her books on my blog and on my author page over at Facebook.

Source: Bertie O’Brien and the Button Factory by Jessica Strong – Author | The GUNDERSTONE review

You can find Jess Strong’s books on Amazon

Go West~Chapter 45

Go West

by DiVoran Lites

Chapter Forty-five

Aldon

Everyone settled in as Enrico and Lia began to sing an aria, which Aldon thought sounded like cats fighting. When he and Ellie played music they had created, however, he knew that his heart was going to burst right out of his body.

Nancy had a piano piece, though none of the other, older folks participated. The German girls and the two-man, oomph band drew raves of applause and laughter as they played, “She’s too Fat For Me,” an old traditional they all knew and thought was hilariously funny.

Some of the people filed into the kitchen, but Aldon and Ellie were inundated with compliments and handshakes. Eventually, more people stepped between them, separating them until they were no longer in the same room. After seeing that all the chairs had been replaced, Aldon went looking for Ellie, but he found Molly instead. She lay in wait in the hallway and when she saw him, she motioned for him to follow her to the door between the kitchen and the back porch. She pointed at the window.

Aldon stared at a scene that he had never expected to witness. There, pressed against the coats, hanging from their pegs, stood Ellie with Enrico leaning against her and holding her wrists above her head. Ellie stood as still as a rabbit with her eyes closed tight. At the sight Aldon turned and made his way out the front door without hesitating or looking back.

The next thing he knew, he was on Chief, urging him to run, which his obedient horse was happy to do. They scrambled up the mountainside until it got so steep that Chief had to slow down. Aldon wanted to ride forever, trying to cool the angry fever inside, but he calmed himself enough to realize he could ride the horse to death. When they arrived at the cabin, he tied Chief to the porch rail and strode through the front door, slamming it behind him.

It was now two A. M. and the night was so dark he wondered why he hadn’t fallen off the shelf road or got stuck in a gully on his way here. He knew he had no chance of sleeping, so he found matches in a tobacco tin, struck one, turned up the wick on the kerosene lamp and lit it. As he laid the King Albert container on the table, he wondered how long it would be before the pack-rats returned and stole it. Was there no safety for anything or anyone? He sat at the table with his head in his hands. Then looking up he saw the Bible tucked under a shelf, picked it up, and opened it to the middle. He began to read Psalm 51.

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin,” He paused, calmer now, knowing His heavenly Father was near. Suddenly he recalled Pastor Rudd’s suggestion that people who had something on their minds could write letters to God, who is always waiting to hear from them. That’s it, Aldon thought who better to talk to than my heavenly Father?

He opened a drawer again and found a piece of scratch paper and a stub of pencil. One side of the paper had a list on it. He recognized the writing immediately. It was Ellie’s. She had written the names of the wildflowers he had told her about at round-up: Glacier Lily, which they’d seen growing near an old snowdrift, Monument Plant, that grew only in moist years and then waited between twenty and sixty years for a full rainy season to bloom again. She had listed lemon, rose, and red Indian Paintbrush. She had written down everything he had told her! He felt a tightness in his shoulders as the anger boiled again. Why did she write it all down as if she cared when all the time she planned to run away with Enrico?

A Christmas Banquet~’Tis the Sneezin

It’s crunch time. Christmas is only one week away. Have you kicked up your Christmas reading? I know I have. Today we have a treat to finish off the Christmas Banquet. Ava Mallory’s cozy mystery series makes a stop in a small town at Christmas.

I am sad that today is the last time I will be asking this question. Tell us, Ava, why did you decide to set this installment of your series at Christmas?

I chose to add a Christmas story to my series because Christmastime is my favorite time of the year. As a mom to four children, I find Christmastime to be especially meaningful. Most of my marriage was spent living a nomad lifestyle as a military spouse. We’d often find ourselves living far from home base. For me, home is Spain, where my family is from. We made a trip yearly to Spain during the holidays and did nothing particularly exciting other than to be surrounded by family and doing the things that families do, like laughing, talking, eating and sometimes squabbling. Now, that two of my children are in college and beginning their new adult lives, trips back home will be different. I wanted to create a story that reminded me in some ways of the playful banter between those I love the most in the world and still spoke of the Christmas spirit and generosity of people. I wanted to see how my main character’s world played out during the holiday season and, hopefully, provide a few laughs along the way.

Tis the Sneezin
is the latest novella in my A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery series. This series features a meddling traveling nurse as she takes on new and interesting job
assignments in small towns across America. Mercy, my main character, is too feisty for her own good. Her penchant for melodramatics and mayhem play out
town after town. She, along with those she calls her band of misfits, never veer too far from trouble. It follows them everywhere and Mercy takes it upon
herself to get involved.

In this installment of the series, Mercy is up to her eyeballs in donations for the town’s annual holiday celebration. Every nook and cranny of her house and all of her friend’s and neighbor’s homes are overflowing with gifts for ill children in her local hospital. It’s all she can do to keep trackof what is what and who is who.

On the night that she and her merry band of helpers are to deliver gifts, everything, including gifts she bought for her loves ones, simply disappear without a trace.

Now, Mercy has to find the thief before those who appointed her this year’s Mrs. Claus find out that they’re missing and dozens of children are left disappointed.

Enlisting the help of her reluctant loved ones, Mercy has a humdinger of a mystery to solve in a flash in order to save Christmas.

I adore Mercy! As a former hospice and dementia care nurse, I feel a special connection to Mercy and those she meets on her mystery adventures. There’s
nothing particularly amazing about her. Her strength comes in just how ordinary she is. That’s what I love about her! I wanted to create a character that
people could relate to and learn to love as much as I do. As an homage to many of the fantastic patients, doctors, and nurses I met over my 20+ years ‘in
the trenches’, I created side characters, who are just as spectacular as any ornery and lovable bunch would be.