Between Earth and Sky (Guardians of the North Book #4) , livre ebook

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136 pages

English

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With Crazy Horse on the warpath, can Hunter and Reena survive his thirst for revenge?While living among the Blackfoot Indians as a missionary, Reena O'Donnell receives a telegram from her uncle Faron, requesting that she come to help him. She is shocked to hear he has been severely wounded while working as a scout for General George Armstrong Custer in the Dakota Territory. Hunter Stone and Del Dekko provide Reena an escort, along with missionary Jack Sheffield, who insists on accompanying them. As Reena nurses her uncle back to health, Custer's expedition with the Seventh Cavalry deep into Indian territory leads to renewed hostilities among the Sioux and Cheyenne. As the People gather for the battle sure to come, Jack Sheffield, determined to follow God's leading, strikes out on his own to try to talk with Crazy Horse and restrain the fury of the great chief. With imminent danger threatening them, Hunter grows concerned for the safety of Reena and her wounded uncle. Should they remain in the safety of Custer's army, or return home on their own through dangerous country?Will a mission of mercy lead them all to an early grave? Or can Hunter find a way out?

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Historical fiction

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 mai 1998
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441263032
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0202€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Guardians of the North Book Four
Between Earty and Sky
Alan Morris
Copyright © 1998 by Alan Morris
Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan. www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-6303-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Cover illustration by Joe Nordstrom
Cover design by Dan Thornberg
The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.
G UARDIANS OF THE N ORTH
By Honor Bound
Heart of Valor
Bright Sword of Justice
Between Earth and Sky
Wings of Healing
To Stacy,
my big sister with real class,
who also happens to possess
a wicked left hook.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Guardians of the North
Dedication
Part One: Ambition
1. Reception
2. Night Thoughts
3. Campaign Beginnings
4. A Meeting in the Woods
5. The Messenger
6. The Absence of Reality
Part Two: The First Step
7. A Journey Planned
8. Questions Asked
9. Introspection
10. On the Missouri
11. Unheeded Warnings
Part Three: The Mass of Force
12. Dark Results
13. Days Gone By
14. Departures and Arrivals
15. Crescent Moon
16. A Long Night for Reena
17. Crazy Horse
Part Four: Brave Hearts to the Front
18. Violation
19. The Odds of Fate
20. Enlightenment
21. From the Mouth of Madness
22. The Sky Father
23. Taking Leave
24. Ours for a Time
About the Author
Back Cover
Part One
May 1876
Ambition
Chapter One
Reception
Outside the chapel at Fort Macleod, a bank of ominous thunderheads scudded across the sky, tumbling over the late afternoon sun like gunsmoke. Lightning pulsed through the dark clouds in flashes and sparks. The resulting thunder was low and threatening as it rolled across the plains to the ears of the spectators gathered outside the chapel.
The people formed two long lines, extending all the way from the chapel to the mess hall. Every once in a while some of them would tear their eyes away from the approaching storm clouds to glance at the door of the chapel in anticipation.
Dressed in a fine cotton suit of deep blue and feeling quite self-conscious, Del Dekko eyed the black clouds and muttered, “Headed this way, too.”
“What did you say, Del?” Hunter Stone asked. Well over six feet tall, Stone sometimes had trouble hearing the man who barely came to his shoulder. Hunter thought his hearing was going at times, even at the age of twenty-eight, and the thought disturbed him when he took the time to think about it, which didn’t happen very often.
“I said that storm’s headin’ right toward us,” Del declared.
“How do you know?”
Del had an unfortunate wandering eye, but he fixed the steady one on Stone in exasperation. “Hunter, when you gonna learn that I know the prairies? I know when it’s gonna snow, and I know when it’s gonna rain.” He nodded toward the cloud bank. “It’s comin’ this way. Count on it.”
“If you say so, Del,” Stone said as he smiled and looked over at the huge sign that hung over the mess hall door. In neat large letters and bright red paint, it read:
CONGRATULATIONS
VIC AND MEGAN!!!
Hunter glanced across the path created by the two lines of people to the one responsible for the sign. His grin widened when he found her looking back at him. “It looks great, Reena.”
“Thank you, sir,” Reena O’Donnell replied demurely. Her black hair, normally long and flowing, was parted in the middle and arranged in intricate clusters of soft curls that framed her forehead and the sides of her face.
Hunter’s breath caught as he gazed at her delicate high cheekbones, fine straight nose, and sky-blue eyes. “You look beautiful today, Reena.”
“And you’re very handsome.”
Reena wore a lilac and beige calico dress with fitted bodice and narrow collar. The waist was slightly high, and the sleeves were long and tight with a slit, flared at elbow length. The oversleeves were trimmed with lilac silk.
Stone was dressed in his finest uniform, complete with saber and spotless white gauntlets. He glanced around at the other Mounties in the line who were indeed handsome in their dress uniforms. The heat and humidity of the May afternoon, however, caused sweat to roll down his well-dressed back. Suddenly impatient, he glanced at the door to the chapel just in time to see Jaye Eliot Vickersham and his brand-new bride, Mrs. Vickersham, appear, looking impossibly happy.
Vic, as his friends called him, had the eye and nose and jaw of England. His face reflected the personality inside of him: open, honest, and noble. The son of an earl, he was unfailingly polite, regal in bearing, and the best friend Hunter had ever known. Now, as Stone watched the couple pause at the top of the steps, he felt a rush of affection and admiration for his friend.
Vic’s bride, Megan, was Reena’s sister, though their resemblance to each other was negligible. Megan only came to Reena’s shoulder in height, with honey-blond hair and a shapely figure. Standing on the stoop with her new husband, she beamed with pleasure.
The gathered crowd applauded the couple, then the Mounties in the line withdrew their sabers and lifted them high, forming an arch over the path to the mess hall for the reception. Vic, with a self-conscious grin at Hunter over all the pomp and circumstance, took Megan’s arm and guided her through the throng of friends and wellwishers. Some of the ladies threw tiny violets over them as they walked beneath the shiny canopy of swords.
“Well, well, well,” Del drawled as he, Reena, and Stone turned to follow the couple.
“What is it, Del?” Stone asked, though he knew what was coming.
“I’m afraid my old friend Vic is now among the league of frightened men.” He shook his head sadly. “Sure is a shame. He was such a good man.”
“Del!” Reena cried.
“Oh, sorry, Miss Reena. I didn’t know you was behind me.”
“It doesn’t matter! Today’s supposed to be a happy day for Vic.”
Del pulled at the waistline of his trousers uncomfortably and again eyed the menacing storm looming ever closer. “I guess I’m happy for him if he’s happy. You really think he is?”
“Of course! Just look at him.”
“Mmm.”
“Del, why are you so down on marriage?” Hunter asked.
“Years ago I had a best friend break us up by gettin’ married. Ruined his life. He never knew what happiness was ’til he married that gal then it was too late.”
“What happened to them?” Reena asked, with a wink at Stone.
“She might as well of just shot him on their wedding day. Would’ve saved him ten years of misery. When she put her finger through that wedding ring, it was the last thing she ever did by hand. Straightaway she had him washing dishes, clothes, kids then he’d have his own chores to tend to.” Del shook his head and grunted. “Poor ol’ Richie. Died nearly ten years to the day he married that hag.”
“His heart give out or something?” Stone asked.
“Nope. He fell down a well. She prob’ly wouldn’t have even missed him, except for the dirty dishes piling up in the sink. Poor ol’ Richie,” Del repeated.
Reena slipped her arm through Hunter’s and said, “Somehow I don’t think Megan will have Vic washing dishes and clothes, Del.”
“Are you sure, Miss Reena?”
“Yes, I’m quite sure.”
“That’s good. She’d miss him if he fell down a well, though, wouldn’t she?”
Reena laughed, and Hunter smiled, admiring the musical sound of her soft voice.
“Yes,” Reena assured their friend, “Megan would definitely miss her husband if he fell down a well.”
As Del entered the mess hall, Stone paused at the door. The wedding reception had already begun inside, and the sound of singing and the tapping of dancing feet on the wooden floor flowed outdoors. The noise of approaching horses made Stone turn toward the large gate of the fort just as two teams of oxen came through, straining at their yokes from the heavily ladened wagons they pulled. Behind them, a troop of fifty Mounties followed. When they were all inside the gate, the interior of the fort seemed to have shrunk considerably.
Standing beside Stone, Reena followed his gaze toward the new men. “Did someone start a war I don’t know about?”
Stone grinned without humor. “As a matter of fact, they did. The Sioux in Montana and Dakota Territory have become more powerful and skilled than the U.S. Army had counted on. Our own Secretary of State Scott is very nervous and sent us those field guns and extra men.”
“Those guns are very ugly,” Reena observed with obvious distaste.
“Mmm…and extremely deadly. They’re nine-pounders.”
“They look like they weigh quite a bit more than that.”
Laughing, Stone told her, “No, that means they fire nine- pound shells and create quite a mess.”
They watched as two men led the oxen to the quartermaster’s office. The barrels of the cannons gleamed a dull, ash-colored gray beneath the sunless sky. During Stone’s training at Dufferin, he’d seen the damage the field guns were capable of inflicting, and it had been impressive in a frightening sort of way. He hoped that he wouldn’t find himself on the receiving end of a barrage from them anytime in the future.
“Come on,” Reena said, taking his arm. “Let’s not think about cannons today. This is a day to enjoy the festivities.”
“All right…but I’ve got to inform Colonel Macleod that the reinforcements have arrived.” He heard a deep roll of thunder come from the storm bank and cast a war