Desperation and Decision (10 page)

from
Chapter Fifteen -- "An Ultimatum"

That night Benny took one more look through
his footlocker. Suddenly he noticed a slip of paper tucked into his
winter boots. He pulled it out and opened it.

"The box is the key. Use it to unlock the
door to the cat." At the end was a symbol Benny recognized as the
Greek letter Omega. Jason and Joseph were both in the room when
Benny found the note. Joseph watched every move Benny made when he
found the note, though he tried clumsily not to show it. Jason read
the note over Benny's shoulder. Like lightning, Jason leaped across
the room and slammed Joseph down on the floor. He grabbed his
throat and Joseph squawked. He was a much bigger boy than Jason,
but he was not at all strong and could not get the furious boy off
of him.

"You're the one who stole it!" Jason snarled.
"I knew it all the time. We want it back right now!"

"Make him get off of me, or you'll be sorry!"
Joseph squealed to Benny.

"Let him up, Jason," Benny ordered. "Joseph,
I guess you don't want to be expelled, do you? I just want my
cougar skin back. I don't want any trouble."

"You can't prove I had anything to do with
that note or your -- cougar skin," Joseph said with an oath. "You
can tell me now what's in the box. Then they'll let you know what
they want next."

Hope and the Knight of the Black Lion
by Mary C. Findley

(Also available in the "Illuminated
Version," echoing the style of a medieval manuscript. "Home to My
Father: A Knight's Tale," is a stand-alone excerpt from this
novel.)

Seventeen-year-old-Hope rebels against
arranged marriage in medieval England. The earl’s handsome son
Robert tempts her to defiance. A mysterious knight appears to help
Hope find her missing family. Does Hugo Brun de March truly travel
on a Holy Quest?

What is the a strange diary the Arab
Sadaquah gives Hope? When her protector is captured she discovers a
plot to subvert English law and justice.

from
Chapter Eleven

"Sir Knight. I hear that thou wilt not say
thy name nor thy true business to anyone. "

"It is a vow I have made, that Baron Cloyes
must be the first in England to know of these things. "

"Man, thy story might turn my heart
completely to thy cause," Lord Godwin said.

"It matters little now, my lord. " Sir Chris
coughed several times. "The earl has said I am to be made to
confess to the burning of the manor house. To that I cannot
confess, and so ... Lady Hope?"

"Yes, Sir Chris?"

"I am sorry I could not help you," he said
in a voice I could scarcely hear. "I am sorry, too, that you were
not persuaded to know Christ."

Chasing the Texas Wind
by Mary C. Findley

Hamilton Jessup agrees a sham marriage with
socialite singer Maeve Collinswood. This beautiful spinster needs a
handsome wounded war hero husband to show off at Texas fundraisers.
Ham has no choice, but they both have secrets to keep from each
other.

Ham was supposed to ignore her frequent
disappearances. Falling in love with her changed all that. His
discovery that their secrets are connected plunges both of them
into a race to outwit whoever is supplying arms to Mexico as the
countdown ticks away toward the Battle of Monterrey.

from
Part One, between June, 1844 and March, 1845

"I wanted to lay your concerns to rest,
Ma'am," Ham drawled. "It was kind of you to call Doctor Evans, and
I apologize for being generally impossible to live with. "

Maeve looked at him in astonishment. "Doctor
Evans said you were feverish, and you seemed to be in pain.
Hamilton, what happened last night?"

"Last night, Ma'am?" Ham seemed to be
thinking hard. "Would you believe me if I told you Nat Grover
drugged our punch and hired someone to try to kill us?"

"What?" Maeve stood up. "How can you stand
there and speak such a lot of nonsense? Why do you hate Mr. Grover
so much? What has he done to you?"

Ham took a deep breath. "Well then," he said
in a low voice, "Since that's how you respond, you got a bit faint
and I got a bit thirsty and I sent you home and went out and wet my
whistle. "

Maeve appeared to be studying him. "You were
drunk, and suffered from a hangover," Maeve summarized finally.

"In essence, that is what must have
occurred," Ham replied. "Since Mr. Grover is sacrosanct from my
unprovable accusations."

"Hamilton?" Maeve said suddenly.

"Yes, Ma'am?" Ham asked.

"The story you told about
Goliad,
" Maeve said, looking pained, "Was it some
sort of alcoholic raving or did you tell a true tale?"

Ham looked away. "A true tale, Ma'am," he
said. "I could never be intoxicated enough to show so much
disrespect to the memory of that event as to fabricate a tale about
it."

"Thank you," Maeve said.

Send a White Rose
by Mary C. Findley

Leah Masters came to the New Mexico
Territory hoping to make a “mail order match” with handsome Judge
Bartholomew Durant. She fainted at his feet and when she woke up
discovered she had stepped into an assassination plot with her
hot-tempered brother as the prime suspect.

Who does Bart Durant trust when facing
revolution theology and a still-unknown assassin? How can he ignore
the sudden realization that his heart might already belong to
someone else besides the woman he still thinks is a stuck-up
weakling?

from
Chapter Two

Bartholomew struggled to move, but his limbs
did not seem to belong to him. The sun climbed higher. His injuries
throbbed with dull insistence.

"Help!" he groaned. It was faint, barely
recognizable as a word.

"What? Another dead man?" The words were
Spanish; the voice that of a small child, curious and unafraid.

"Por favor, niño, ayúdame,"
he said thickly. "Go to the city and bring
help. "

"Oh, no, I cannot bring anybody here. They
will find the things I took and papa will beat me again. "

"I promise no one will harm you if you bring
help. Please, I may die if you don't. "

"You talk an awful lot for a
gringo muerto
. I have things to do. "

Bartholomew caught sight of a half-wild rose climber in the
chapel garden.
White roses.

"You -- you know
la Señorita
Alethia at the Orphanage? I am sure ... she would
give you a sweet … if you ... pick the prettiest white rose on that
bush over there and take it to her."

"It is a good thing I have my
burro,
or I would not go. It is a long way. I
will be back later, but I will not have any more time to waste on
you, dead man. I hope you will be quiet, like the other one is.
"

Bartholomew did not answer, and the
footsteps shuffled away.

Carrie's Hired Hand
by Mary C. Findley (Novella)

Carrie Wilkes is the Northern widow of a
Southern soldier in the middle of the Civil War. Robert Salinger
may be handsome but his promise to take care of Ben's family rings
hollow as she struggles alone with the farm work. She is grateful
to give a deaf and dumb stranger work for food and a place to stay.
Southern soldiers come with accusations of spying. Robbie's "secret
code" might spell terror for Carrie and her children.

"God bless you … for all you've done, Rob,"
Ben whispered, half-opening his eyes and gripping Robert's
shoulder. The handsome young man continued his work, but he stared
at Ben with the same look of intensity he had given Carrie. "You're
…that friend that … sticketh closer than a brother … the Scriptures
…talk about."

"Not now, Ben," murmured Robert, turning his
eyes away. "Talk to your wife. She's very frightened."

"Carrie Sue, I love you," Ben said, reaching
out a hand and stroking Carrie's hair.

"I love you too, Ben." Carrie said. "We'll
get you home and everything will be fine."

"Carrie, Rob got you here … because I ain't
comin' home," Ben gasped. He patted Robert weakly on the arm, and
the young man looked up at his face again. "Rob, I gotta wet my
whistle."

Robert produced a canteen and Carrie gave Ben
a drink. He choked and groaned. "Carrie, I don't … want to leave
you … alone like this," Ben said when he could speak again. "All
alone."

"I'll look after them, Ben," Robert said
suddenly, gripping the dying man's shoulder. "As God is my witness.
This was my doing, and I will take care of your family."

"The work's got to get done … " Ben said
faintly.

"It will," Robert promised. Carrie couldn't
help wondering how this slight young man, dapper in spite of the
filth around them, was going to help get the farm work done.

"You give me the Lord, Rob," Ben said. "Try
to give Him to my Carrie, an' my babies too."

Carrie strained to hear. What Ben had just
said didn't make any sense. Robert nodded.

"I will try," he said softly.

Biblical Studies
Curriculum by Michael J. and Mary C.
Findley

(Student and Teacher Editions) Bible Study
aids for children, homeschoolers, and adults. Commentary, Review
Questions, Free Videos on YouTube. Bible Doctrines, children's
whole book studies of Jonah and Ruth with 3D puppet commentary,
Proverbs, Adult studies in the New Testament and Major Prophets
background, featuring more than 30 videos in the Revelation study
alone, Old Testament and New Testament Manuscript History

The Conflict of the Ages Part One: The Scientific History
of Origins
by Michael J. and Mary C. Findley (Student and Teacher
Editions)

Based on biblical, scientific, and ancient
manuscript evidence, this book begins a series studying history,
science and literature to correct misconceptions and outright lies
about creation, chronology, and geological and cosmological
truth.

The Conflict of the Ages Part Two: The origin of Evil in
the World that Was
by Michael J. and Mary C. Findley (Student and Teacher
Editions)

Based on biblical, scientific, and ancient
manuscript evidence, this book covers the period from the Fall of
Man to the Worldwide Flood.

A Dodge, a Twist, and a Tobacconist,
The Alexander Legacy Book
One:
by
Sophronia Belle Lyon

The Alexander Legacy Company is on the track
of a ruthless enslaver of souls. Prowl the foggy London streets.
Encounter a nightmare from the Indian jungles.

Travel the Thames in Sluefoot Sue's Giant
Catfish. Soar on a stealth glider with a Bohemian prince. When
Oliver Twist unwraps the Algerian mummy at Charley Bates' funeral,
will he discover his real enemy? Or is it all just another
"dodge"?

"He's going to ram Twist's ship," Kera
breathed. "They'll both crash into the house and Mrs. Rose just
might have her bomb going off."

I ran along the edge of the roof as if I were
looking for a shot. But I already knew my pistol was empty,
useless, and the guard was trying to get around another gable to
get a clear shot while staying behind cover. I had come to a
conclusion a moment earlier that I dared not say out loud lest I be
grabbed and thrown down on the roof by both women, but I knew what
I had to do.

Just as the spy craft hove around the corner
of the house, only a few feet away from the airship, I launched
myself off the roof. The smaller ship disappeared and my heart
leaped in panic at the thought of being sliced into quarters by the
tail rotor. But my fingertips caught hold of a solid object. I
found the fuselage of the spy ship and wrapped my legs around it.
The thing slewed and spun and began to fall tail-first toward the
green lawn.

The Alexander Legacy Book Two: The 'Pprentices, the
Puppets, and the Pirates,
by Sophronia Belle Lyon

Can Oliver Twist trust Spring-heeled Jack
when he offers to “bodyguard the little’un”? Do costume balls
conceal more than the faces of the wealthy and powerful? Trevor
Newsome disappears just days before the election but the Legacy
Company can't search for him from the London Lockup. When the trip
to Switzerland finally becomes a reality, it's for a funeral, not
for a wedding.

Quests for immortality meld with the worship
of powerful men, with terrifying and tragic consequences. When Long
John Silver arrives, Oliver has to think fast to protect more than
just his own life from the pirate who says he only cares about
rescuing his daughter.

"Twist! Look out!" I spun and swung wildly as
the crack of a Colt revolver split the air. Sluefoot Sue had both
her firearms out and was shooting at something below me. To my
astonishment tentacles rose out of the Thames and wrapped
themselves around the Catfish. Each time one of Sue's bullets
struck them they disappeared under the water again, but when she
paused to reload they re-emerged and began to reach for me,
climbing the Catfish sub. I hastily winched myself over toward the
dock but a tentacle grabbed hold of my leg just as I started to set
myself down. It flung me down on the dock and started dragging me
to the edge.

"Hey, boss lady!" Dobbs, Sue's assistant,
hollered out from inside the workshop. I was just able to see a
pump-action shotgun cartwheel through the air and land in Sue's
gloved hands. Just before it began to blast me deaf, I realized
that it was in fact no ordinary shotgun, rather had some sort of
gattling action, and a bit more. I hoped I would get a better look
at it rather than end up 20,000 leagues under in some sea monster's
maw.