Sweet Saturday Samples - Dec 1, 2012

Welcome back to Sweet Saturday Samples.

I'm signing books next Friday at the Payson Public Library from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. and hope to see many of my Payson-area friends. I'll have Spinster's Folly on hand, as well as the first three books of "The Owen Family Saga," The Man from Shenandoah (very limited amount of copies left), Ride to Raton, and Trail of Storms. See you there!

This week's sample is an excerpt from The Man from Shenandoah.

Carl turned off toward Rulon’s house. The sun had come out bright and strong, and it felt good and warm on his back. He grinned. “Hush, we’re going west.”

As he reached the corner, Carl saw a group of mounted men dashing up the cross street in front of him. Panic rose in his throat as he recognized the Yankee patrol that had jumped him, and he wheeled his horse to find a place of concealment. Then he realized where he was, turned Sherando again, and tried to calm his pounding heart. The soldiers were probably racing through the streets of Mount Jackson to make a ruckus, and he felt foolish to be caught in their trap.
 
“Easy, boy,” he told his horse. “It ain’t likely they’ll take after me in town.”
 
The Yankees drew up at the far end of the street, then turned and started back to town. As they thundered toward him, Carl noticed a young girl opposite him, evidently trying to decide whether to cross. She hesitated a moment, then bolted out into the street. In the middle, she looked around at the approaching soldiers, tripped, and fell into the road.
 
Without thinking, Carl spurred his horse into the street, leaned out from his saddle, and plucked the arising girl from the muck. Sherando carried them across the road while the Yankees whooped and whistled as their horses rushed by, venting their disappointment. Carl got down the street, turned a corner, then pulled up and set the girl on her feet and slid off his horse.

“Hush my mouth! That was the darn-foolest thing I ever seen a body do!” Carl made no attempt to stop the hot words from tumbling out of his mouth. He glared at the girl, standing in the street with her chin up and her eyes flashing, auburn hair disheveled, the front of her clothes mud-caked and dripping. “You surely could have been killed, and that’s a fact! You keep clear away from that gang of Yankees, you hear? Darn fool girl, anyhow.” He got on his horse and left her standing there. Then he rode away, shaking mud and slime off his arm, and muttering to himself.
 
I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse at The Man from Shenandoah. Thank you for participating in Sweet Saturday Samples. Click on the link to go visit other authors' blogs with samples of their work. I'm sure they like comments as much as I do.