Thank you Amy for letting me do this.

Laird's Return by Amy Ruttan

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Eternal Press

All Romance E-books

Bio: Amy Ruttan started writing at a very young age. Life and responsibility got in the way and writing was put on hold. It wasn’t until the birth of her second child and spending countless hours in a NICU she realized that life is precious and it shouldn’t be wasted.

Now years later –and a healthy baby later–Amy has realized her dreams. She was first published in 2007 and she hasn’t looked back.

Blurb: Try as he might he cannot leave his past behind…

It’s been ten years since Liam McFarland stepped foot on his native soil, since he disobeyed his father’s wishes and joined the army, and it’s been ten years since he gave up his birthright as Laird McFarland and the woman that he loved.

Isobel McLaren gave up on a life of love and passion when Liam McFarland chose the army over her. She settled into her mundane existence with a husband who has no interested in the fairer sex. Her life was predictable and structured, until Liam McFarland the rightful laird of Kingorn returned and then nothing was predictable anymore.

Excerpt:

“Ah, Captain McDonnell is it? Welcome to McFarland Keep. What can I…” Liam turned around and his brother’s words faded away as their gazes locked across the small expanse of the room.

“Liam?” Robbie’s voice wavered with uncertainty, his face going paler than it already was.

“Aye,” he answered, trying to swallow the lump forming in his throat. “How have you been?”

“Well,” Robbie said turning away to close the door behind him. Liam watched as he placed a hand on the door, as if to steady himself, his back stiffening. “I’ve been well, Liam. And you?”

“Fine.”

Robbie walked towards their father’s desk. Liam saw the disbelief in his brother’s eyes. “Are ye? Don’t lie to me.”

Liam rubbed again at the knot in the back of his neck. His throat constricted with the effort to keep his emotions under check. Ten years of pain and heartache threatened to spill out at his brother’s gentle prodding. Robbie could always see past the lies, and the kind cadence of his inquiry was more than Liam had hoped for, more than he deserved.

“No, I am not fine,” he said, letting out a long ragged breath. It felt like just admitting that defeat to his brother had lifted a burden from his shoulders.

Robbie’s face fell, and he looked down at the blotter on the desk. He had aged, and whatever ailed him was apparent in his countenance. His skin was sallow; his eyes hollow with pain and weariness. Yet, there were aspects that had not changed. Lean
and tall, Robbie possessed the fine bone structure of their mother. His light brown hair was slicked back, his thick sideburns neat and trimmed, as was the handlebar mustache.

Robbie sat down behind the desk, a pained expression crossing his face. He leaned back in the chair and laced his fingers neatly together on his chest. “What brings you back, Liam?”

“You tell me. I received your missive from last year, asking me to come home.”

Robbie’s mustache twitched and humor laced his words. “I did wonder if it had got to you. I did not know if you were dead or alive.” He looked up at him, his blue eyes glassy. “You’ve changed your name as well.”

“Aye, wasn’t really a McFarland anymore was I?” The pain from his leg shot up through his hip and he gripped the back of the nearest chair. Digging his fingers into the wood eased the pain momentarily. Robbie didn’t respond, or didn’t seem to notice or care.

Taking a deep breath, Liam closed his eyes and tried to forget about the pain. When it eased, he lessened his hold on the chair. “Why did you want me back, Robbie? Why am I here?”

“Are you angry to be back?”

“I didna say that.”

“Are you vexed I pulled you away from your duty?” Robbie’s voice was laced with bitterness, his eyes narrowing into a glare.

“I am not in the army any more, Robbie.” Raising his walking stick, he tapped his leg. “I was injured in South Africa, in the Anglo Zulu War.”

Robbie looked stunned, his face whitening. “You were there?”
“Aye, it’s what I wanted.” Liam limped around to the front of the chair. “Do you mind if I sit? My leg, it pains me.”

Robbie held out his hands, motioning him to sit and Liam eased himself down into the chair. The throbbing ceased for a moment as he stretched his legs. The sound of chuckling made him look up. Robbie’s head was bowed and he was laughing to himself.

“What is so amusing?”

“Look at us,” Robbie said between chuckles. “You with a game leg, me…dying.”

Liam felt his body numb, his heart lurching as his stomach dropped to the soles of his shoes. “Dying? What do you mean dying?”

Interview
1. In three days, all power will go off, everywhere for a very long time. What will you include in your author survival kit? Notepads and pens because I know a battery pack on my laptop wouldn’t last long. An old fashioned typewriter, lots of paper (good to burn to stay warm up here in Canada) and Diet Coke.

2. Where did the idea for the work you are promoting arise? Funnily enough it was a dream. It woke me up and I jotted down everything I could and went back to sleep. In the morning I started researching and filling in the holes.

3. What do you like to read? Almost anything. I really can’t pin it down to a genre any more. I read anything which strikes my fancy, both fiction and nonfiction.

4. Tell us about the most exciting place you have ever visited? San Francisco for RWA in 2008. I’ve always wanted to go there since my Nana always wanted to, but she never got to. She had a huge painting of the Golden Gate Bridge in her dining room and I would stare at it for hours. It was pretty amazing when I got to see it and cross it, but I think the City by the Bay is going to be replaced this coming summer. We’re planning on a cross country family vacation. We’ll be gone for almost a month and will be visiting Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and back home to Ontario. I’ve almost convinced my hubby to take me to Yellowknife Northwest Territories when we’re in Alberta. Almost. LOL!

5. What is the most mundane, day to day, thing you can share about yourself? Mundane would be the school routine. Up at 7 a.m., get my three kids ready, take the oldest to school, make a lunch, pack bags. Take my oldest to school for 9 a.m., bring the other two home and then take the middle guy to school for 12:45 p.m., a couple hours to edit or write if the youngest lets me and then back at the school for 3:00 p.m. Very mundane day.

6. What scares you the most? Losing one of my children hands down. Nothing much scares me anymore, except that. I came close enough with my middle guy.

7. Tell us anything but keep it G rated. I have an unnatural love for Diet Coke. It’s my vise. The only time I couldn’t drink it was when I was pregnant with my youngest. It was disgusted by it for 9 months, but once he was born BAM I wanted it again. When I’m in the zone writing I’m constantly guzzling the stuff. It’s habit, like a chain smoker.

BUY LINKS:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lairds-Return-ebook/dp/B005G91PSG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1327502443&sr=1-1

Eternal Press: http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615724536

All Romance E-books: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-laird039sreturn-585347-162.html

WHERE TO FIND ME:

Websites: Amy Ruttan: http://www.amyruttan.com

A.C. Ruttan (alter ego): http://www.acruttan.com

BLOG: http://amyruttan.blogspot.com

TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/ruttanamy

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000468098634

Keywords:
Amy Ruttan, Laird’s Return, Eternal Press, Scottish, Historical Romance, Queen Victoria, Prodigal Son

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Eternal Press

All Romance E-books

I have things spread over at least three laptops, two retired, two laptops, one in ICU when I need to scrape something out of it and probably a dozen USB drives.

It is time to dust off some of those projects in search of a seed, plotline, character or even a very rich scene that could become my next novel.

It has taken two days and repeated trips to the old laptop in search of oddly named files in equally odd formats. The second task is dragging them to this laptop and figuring out what program to use when opening them. The final step is to decide if the file I finally opened is a complete file or what stage of revision it was in when I last worked on it.

I’ve asked many writers for tips on how to name and store a work in progress. There are some very organized writers out there and I am not among them. I know this because I am finding NaNo manuscripts done in 2008 and 2009 named week 1, week 2, week 3… you get it. My attempt at becoming organized is a failure.

I’m still interested in learning a good way to file my projects and I know I am not the only writer with this issue, so leave a comment.  What works for you?

The first question hasn’t changed, though. What do I work on, now?

Milk Carton People

Do I sound like I’m complaining? I’m actually quite happy to have a second novel published and I am very thankful to Kim Richards Gilchrist for making it reality.

I think I have narrowed it down to a wine drinking character who works in a doctor’s office or a very unlikable car thief and murderer. Maybe, I can let them meet. Oh, it is good to be a writer.

Till next time, don’t touch anything sharp and if you don’t watch I’ll write you into my next story!

What do I work on, now?  And how do I organize my writing projects?

I want to clear something up.

Not every house is haunted. Not every haunted house is haunted. Last, it doesn’t take long at all for a house to become haunted. A brand new home, smelling of preservative, can be haunted. Well, except they aren’t really haunted. Most of the time anyway.

Let’s talk about Spirits.

Spirits attach themselves to the oddest things. Some are weak, sort of like fondness’s, they aren’t going to frighten anyone. Spirits come to linger over a stereo system, an old antique brush and mirror set, a lamp, even. But they have no real form.

Think of being touched lightly, stroked even then the breath of a sigh follows and the feeling dissipates. That’s how a spirit is, mostly.

Some spirits are better formed – but very fleeting.

These move into a house connected to wonderfully pre-owned furniture.

These are the things that go bump in the night as they explore strange land they have been moved to. These spirits are fleeting – because once they get their bearings, they can leave, they go on outward to find their other bits of well loved furniture.

We had two of those here.

One came with a small couch and the other came with a cabinet. One came back regularly, stayed a little while then would go off again like a tom cat.

Let me tell you about a fair number of the folks who are recently dead.

Yes, we are moving along to the recently dead. Are they really haunting the house?

Some of the recently gone over are frightened and confused. They don’t show up in a house sometime for months.

You need to understand that a newly crossed spirit is confused. Especially if they were terribly ill or suddenly taken, murdered, or hit by a truck.

Like I started to explain – they tend to hang out with their bodies at the funeral home. They aren’t well formed till later, but they even though they see their own funerals, they can’t gather themselves enough to really hear it or see it. These are scattered, blob like and sporadic.

Later these ghostlike become more self aware and less confused and begin to pull themselves together.

They tend to start out with a not so healthy or integrated form of their recent selves but with some calmness and acceptance, they take a younger form. Once this is done, they travel here and there, darting in and out of childhood homes and schools, bar haunts of adulthood.

The newly dead as time goes on may return to see the humans they left behind but that can be rather frustrating, at this point the dead can hear and see but they still seem unable to interact.

I have to tell you at this point, because I didn’t before. Not all spirits are dead. The ones attached sentimentally to an object are not always dead. In life there are a lot of strings attached.

Okay, back to the dead ones.

They may haunt a house. They may sweep through and stay a bit but mostly it is abandoned houses that have the more stay at home ghosts.

It isn’t all that much fun to hang around with the living.

A ghost seems to be bound by its own imaginings, its own particular hells. Doubts and regrets can chain a spirit just as much as the fellow who wore the chains he forged in life.

Then there is true evil, the flip side of sentimental elements.

Evil is more than a wistful thought.

It is sort of like anger that accumulates, much as the fear and confusion of the newly dead. But anger has harder edges. Evil is more defined than fear and confusion. It doesn’t ever get itself together. It doesn’t evolve or calm down.

Evil is not observant and although it does have boundaries, it isn’t aware of them.

Evil is the spirit that comes into a house maybe attached to a found object brought in by one of the family, or it may attach itself to the victim of opportunity.

To let evil in you have to have a place for it to attach. It needs a weakness in character, a grudge, some kind of helplessness.

Evil creates a general feeling of unrest in the house. Without people it doesn’t stay. While evil is the uninvited guest, it can make a family behave out of character.

Where evil comes from is a matter for debate.

I think evil is a bit like a strong magnet that farmers put into the stomach of cows. A cow magnet collects things of metal that the cow eats. Why or how a cow eats lengths of fence wire and nails, I may never understand. But over time, when the cow is taken to slaughter, all sorts of things are stuck to that magnet.

Evil tumbles unconfined by a cow’s stomach. It attracts more negative thoughts and echoes of deeds and can become quite large and it has attraction but not direction.

Evil will leave when a house has no more human unrest to offer or sometimes it leaves on the coat tails of a guest. Evil does like company, something to feed from.

A real ghost is different. A human ghost the way we tend to imagine them happens after a person has been gone long enough to get itself together.

A ghost, a human ghost likes an empty house, people are like static cling and a ghost would rather be alone. They drift according to their own time.

Sentimental spirits can linger for a very long time and like I said, they aren’t attached to a dead person.

I see you over there on the corner, you want to object, don’t worry, you will get your chance. I heard a rumble over there behind me, I suppose you have your own opinion. I still stand by my claim that houses aren’t really haunted, things are, spaces are but unless it is a sentimental element it isn’t a twenty four seven sort of thing.

-Haunted House? Nah, who believes in ghosts?

Come back next Friday when a new house steps into the spotlight.

Don’t touch anything sharp!

Highland Promise

writer’s website:

buy link: Sisters by Choice Book II: Highland Promise from Champagne Books:

prequel buy link: Highland Treasure from Eternal Press:

Bio:

Mary McCall has been telling stories all her life. Now she writes Historical Romantic Comedy set mainly in the medieval Highlands and England. She is a member of Romance Writers of America; Hearts Through History Romance Writers; Celtic Hearts Romance Writers; The Golden Network; River City Romance Writer; Faith, Hope & Love, Inc. She has won or placed in over 43 historical romance contests and is a past Golden Hearts finalist. She loves history, has a particular fondness for the Greek through Medieval periods, and is glad research for her books has finally utilized her ability to speak Ecclesiastical Latin. Mary resides in Memphis, Tennessee with her Maltese, Regina Benita Catariona, who runs the apartment. Visit her website www.marymccall.net or e-mail her mary@marymccall.net.

Blurb:
A handsome meets the hag tale of love and revenge.
Ordered by King Alexander to wed an Englishwoman, Laird Brendan Sutherland heads to England to find and wed the sister of his best friend’s wife to settle a debt. He intends to beget a few heirs and forget the lass. He has no use for love, and among his clanswomen, he is known as Stoneheart.

After being falsely accused of the Sin of Eve when she was twelve, Lady Faith of Hawkhurst hides her beauty beneath a hideous disguise becoming a hag in public. Due to a despicable penance given by a zealot priest, she believes she must enter a convent and live a life of penance or suffer perpetual damnation.

Learning her brother intends to ambush an approaching Highland party, Faith intercepts Brendan and his men and asks their aid in reaching the convent at Saint Bride. Brendan quickly sees through her disguise. Realizing she’s the woman he promised to wed, he agrees to take her with him when he goes home. After a court scandal, King Henry orders them to wed. Faith fears Brendan will never trust her when he learns of her deception. As they return to the Highlands with a killer on their trail, Brendan discovers he can’t remain aloof from the woman destined to restore his faith in love.

Excerpt:

“Quick, Heather.” She sat on the side of the bed to pull on her stockings and lace up her short boots. “Hand me my plaid and tell me how to say ‘have a safe journey and hurry home, laird’ in Gaelic.”
“Why?”
Faith rolled her eyes. At eight years old, Heather was at the age where she demanded to know everything whether it was any of her business or not. She shouldn’t give in to the child, but didn’t want to miss Brendan. “I wish to give my husband a proper farewell and remind him of an important duty he neglected.”
“You think to instruct Bren on his duty?”
“I most certainly do.”
Heather flashed an impish grin and handed over the plaid. Then she spoke the phrase in Gaelic. Faith wrapped her plaid about her while repeating the difficult words three times just to be sure she had them right. Heather declared she had spoken them perfectly.
“Which way to the stables?” Faith asked, tying on her belt to hold her plaid in place.
“Out the rear of the keep and to the left.” Heather rushed past her to the door. “I will take you, but do you know your plaid is a jumbled mess?”
“Well, this is the best I can do right now.” Faith hastily combed her fingers through her hair and tugged open the door. “Besides, if I do not hurry, I shall miss Brendan.”
They rushed from the chamber with Dog on their heels and found their way blocked by Michael. Faith tried to push past him, knowing his presence meant Brendan might already be gone. The need to reach him before he left was growing into panic, though she wasn’t sure why. Lord, help her, was she angry or worried? “Let me pass, Michael.”
The warrior crossed his arms over his chest. “The laird said you were to rest.”
“But I must see him off,” she insisted. “‘Tis a wife’s duty.”
“Aye, Michael,” Heather chimed in. “She wishes to bid him farewell in Gaelic.” She tugged on Faith’s hand and pushed the big warrior’s belly.
Michael rolled his eyes and stepped to the side of the corridor, gesturing with a wave of his arm for them to pass. “This I have to hear.”
Faith rushed down the steps and outside the keep with Heather, Dog, and Michael behind her. When she arrived at the stables, Brendan was riding his black stallion toward a forest trail accompanied by Roland, Tormey, Douglas, and Cleit. Luthias walked toward her from the direction of the stable. She thought her husband’s appearance odd for some reason, then realized he wore a plaid of muted green, brown, and amber. She liked his other colors better, but didn’t have time to ponder why he had changed. He was getting away.
“Brendan, wait!” She lifted her hem and ran toward him.
He drew rein and glanced her way. A frown thundered across his brow. “Why are you not resting?”
“‘Tis my duty to see you off, and you wound my heart by not telling me you are leaving.” She halted beside him just as a sneeze burst from her. She searched her sleeve for the linen square normally tucked there, then realized she had forgotten it in her haste, so she sniffed.
“Your heart will heal.” He tipped up her chin, and she got a good view of his intimidating glare. “Your most important duty is to get well.”
“Quit acting surly or you will spoil my surprise.” She grabbed his hand and held it between both of hers. She couldn’t suppress a grin. He was going to be so proud of her.
“What surprise?” he asked suspiciously.
Faith laced her fingers through his and rested her other hand on his thigh. Then she slowly struggled over each syllable of her Gaelic farewell. A pained expression crossed his face. She assumed her burr was in need of work. “I shall improve, Brendan.”
He shook his head and appeared incredulous. She thought he must be shocked by her determination to learn his language so soon. Silence settled about them, and she noticed his warriors appeared appalled.
She returned her gaze to Brendan. “Why do you not say anything? I know I need to work on my burr, but I did practice—”
“Faith, do you know what you just said to me?”
“Have a safe journey and hurry home, laird?” she asked and heard the worry in her own tone.
Brendan shook his head. Giggles slipped from the young lass behind her. Lord, help her, Heather must have told her the wrong words as a prank.
“That is what I meant to say,” she whispered.
Heather burst into laughter. “You should have seen your face, Bren.”
“You can expect to discuss this when I return,” he warned.
Heather shrugged, obviously not worried over retribution that was days away.
Faith groaned. “What did I say?”
“You told me …

Interview

1. In three days, all power will go off, everywhere for a very long time. What will you include in your author survival kit? Plenty of journals and #5 lead refills for my favorite Dr. Grip mechanical pencil. I write all my rough drafts by hand. My father’s manual typewriter. I was buying a brother electric typewriter when others were investing in word processors. The Apollo Program ended early, and I wanted to make sure that new-fangled equipment for writing wasn’t a passing fancy too. I’d also include Nutty Bars, Tab, a good Chianti, and Wagon Trail Chicken treats for my Maltese.

2. Where did the idea for the work you are promoting arise? In the hospital after a wreck, one of my characters insisted on it. I was planning to write a series about “gifted” MacKay women. When I finished the second book, the heroine insisted she had sisters who had other gifts. Past research and other things just fell into place for a series about four “sister” who are family by choice, like blood brothers.

3. What do you like to read? Romantic Fiction, Historical Fiction, some Mystery/Suspense, old dusty scrolls, anything research oriented toward topics of interest. My comfort reads are Kathleen Woodiwiss, Julie Garwood and Johanna Lindsey – though others are being added.

4. Tell us about the most exciting place you have ever visited? I was an Air Force Brat, so I’ve been so many places from air shows to Europe to the Cumberland region to North Peak. I believe in enjoying the moment. The one exciting place that in retrospect wasn’t so great was New Orleans during Mardi Gras. It’s exciting the first time, especially if you get to wear a cockroach head and follow Jimmy Buffet down the street. By the second time, you notice the drunks answering natures call and friends throwing up, and wonder why it was so exciting. Now I love visiting New Orleans on any other day than Mardi Gras or Hurricane season.

5. What is the most mundane, day to day, thing you can share about yourself? I’m a night person.

6. What scares you the most? Not selling the next book.

7. Tell us anything but keep it G rated. I didn’t know I could sing until I was 27 years old and always mouthed the words to the Star Spangled Banner and Happy Birthday. Now I sing out loud.

Keywords: Highland Promise, Highland Captive, Highland Treasure, Mary McCall, Historical Romance, Highlands, Scotland, Author, Eternal Press, Champagne Books

writer’s website:

buy link: Sisters by Choice Book II: Highland Promise from Champagne Books:

prequel buy link: Highland Treasure from Eternal Press:

Mary McCall is our Eternal Press Queen of Sales at the Moment!  Awesome Work.  Everyone with a book to sell should begin cyber stalking Mary’s Promotions!

Thank You Mary for Letting Me Do this to YOU!

After you are done buying one or two of Mary McCall’s Books, my second novel, Milk Carton People came out yesterday at Eternal Press.

I was part of a village.

It all started in the back of a fluorescently lit class room. The table had paint stains and scissor marks from endless years of art projects. It was laminated wood-grain with a metal edge around it.

The ingredients were all edible. Jelly beans, birthday cake glitter. Frosting, ginger graham crackers and toothpicks to shore us up.

Little candy canes and snow men made of frosting.

The kids were very good to only eat the left-overs. The poor teacher saw all the children gracefully through their sugar crash.

The girl who worked on me was a chubby girl with very dark hair, dark brooding eyes and out of place freckles.

The other kids were nice to her but far too cordial.

She had a lot of trouble getting my sides to stay up, like a house of cards I kept collapsing until a small boy in a worn out sweatshirt came over and helped. He held the sides up while the girl stuck toothpicks in. Graham crackers don’t hold up to the toothpick drilling. We all crack under pressure. A third kid came over and showed the first two how to use the toothpicks to prop the crackers while the frosting hardened.

At long last they settled for a flat roof. They called me the big box store of the Gingerbread Village.

The class decided to put all of us gingerbread buildings and houses together on two tables side by side in the lunchroom.

Some of the houses fell apart in the hallway during the transfer and the kids quickly glooped them back together on the spot.

Other grades displayed their own villages in the same room.

The next day was a sort of open-house at the school. Parents came and the children presented their villages. Each classroom elected a mayor who proclaimed village-hood followed by a brief overview of the display.

The best village got a big blue ribbon. Then the best house in each village and the most unique use of eatable candy and frosting were each awarded blue ribbons.

My girl got a ribbon because I was the only big box store. She smiled broadly and the kids who helped her joined her with hugs.

The girl’s parents cheered and clapped. But, the girl flinched when her mom came up to brush her hair away from her face to take a photo.
I was not the only house who noticed. The whole town, village felt bad. We know her father saw it and at least two teachers quickly looked away.

We all went home with the student most responsible for our being. The girl’s father put me in the back of the van but forgot me when they arrived at her home.

I stayed the night back there, my seams hardened and the next morning the little girl ate half of my roof and all of the jelly beans on the way to school.

__ Gingerbread Big Box Store

No matter who lived here, they accepted what I had to offer and that wasn’t much at all.

Oh, I had fake windows, well not fake, shutters that could be done up on cold or blustery days. New and bigger houses don’t have shutters any more, well, they have them, all made of aluminum and they just hang there.

My only door never closed.

I have no wiring, no lights, no central heat, except that of the current inhabitant. I’ve got no plumbing either.

The last dog to live here, lives inside now. I just sit out here. No one pushes the snow off my roof.

I’ve had four dogs and a chicken.

The first two were dogs. One at a time, I was never that big, unless a toy breed came to live out here but those kinds of dogs become babies with doting parents.

“How’s my baby today? What’s my little one want for his dinner. Who’s a poochy poochy poo?”

That kind of baby talk makes me want to get up and shake off!

Okay, back to my dogs.

The first was a golden retriever. She was a beautiful dog. Brandy lived here till she was white in the muzzle. She made a game of hiding things inside me.

You should have seen her toting a painted top from one of the kids. It was the kind you push down on and watch it spin. There was a shoe, I think all dogs take a shoe at some point in their lives. She brought some mittens all balled together. Dolls. Balls. There were a lot of things she’d bring out.

Brandy lived inside the big house at the end.

A puppy came after. The grown-ups had to turn me up on one side to get all of the toys left by Brandy the golden. The man laughed when he found that shoe.

You know I still have a tuft of hair they didn’t pull out of my side.

The puppy was a real cry baby. Bandit whimpered, barked and even howled to be let in. He would tangle himself on his chain.

I don’t think anyone liked the puppy after the first few days.

Bandit grew quickly. One of the kids would come and walk him, or at least pretend to walk him. She was meeting a boy and I suspect the poor puppy went right into the trunk.

The puppy grew quite large, the food alone must have cost the people in the big house at least an arm and a leg.

Wait, these days people sell organs, must have cost them a kidney.

I am not sure what happened to Bandit the puppy.

One day in late summer, might have been fall, one of the middle kids showed up in the yard.

He put up a chicken wire fence all around me, strung out a heat light and managed to suspend it somehow inside on my roof.

I had central heat. It is still there but after the chicken jumped the fence and ran off, no one turned it on any more.

After what must have been a year, the fence came back down, someone raked the feathers up and went away.

I waited expectantly to see what would happen next.

I think another year went by before the dog who lives here now arrived.

Between times the noises up at the big house changed. The pop music the girl played so loud went away. The boy was gone, too.

A new family moved in, it seemed like it took forever, the clattering, the empty boxes tumbled out the back door. The new man would come out at the end of the day and fold those boxes up neatly and he’d tie them with twine.

Then he took the stack of folded boxes away.

More time was spent all around me, mowing, planting trees, a small garden went in and finally they turned their attention to me.

The new kids, small ones, set out to paint me. I imagine they must have picked the colors from left over paint cans. I began to look like I’d come right out of a day care.

The new man came out and put new hardware on my working shutters and the kids began painting again, amused at the vacant spots exposed to them while my shutters were off.

The light stayed. The man shimmied in and changed out the bulb. This could only mean someone would live here again.

One day the four of them came out with a curious fawn colored leggy thing that I mistook for a miniature deer. On further observation I knew it couldn’t be a deer.

It had short course fur very pointed ears and a sharp snout. Its tail curled impossibly back on itself.

I know it was a Basenji because the grown-ups explained he pranced when he walked and couldn’t bark. He was a dog after the ones shown in Egyptian paintings. Osiris was full grown from the pound.

Now, I knew why the man had left the light inside of me. This poor creature was not made to make his own heat.

The whole family got involved with this dog. They fenced in the garden to keep Osiris from digging and pooping there.

The family came to play at least twice a day with this silent creature. He was allowed inside the big house for hours sometimes the whole night.

The kids grew up but unlike the kids before, they never lost interest in the little fawn colored dog. The dog is gone now, so are the kids.

The man comes out and gazes at me with a wistful look in his eye. I imagine he is remembering the kids who painted me and that day they brought the dog home.

The man is older, not as substantial as he used to be. Like a copy of himself but faded.

My fun colors are pealing back, not all of them, must be the different kinds of paint they used. I look more patch worked now than fun.

I don’t think he is out here thinking of his next puppy. He looks too sad and regretful for that.

He comes out every morning and every evening but the woman hasn’t been out for a very long time. I think the man is here alone.

I wish I could talk, I know another dog would do him well. Maybe a golden retriever to hide his shoe would give him something more than memories to work with. But he goes back inside.

Later he comes back. It’s been this way for a very long time now.

A man without a dog and a doghouse all empty and sad.

What a fine pair we have become.

I know my inhabitants expected nothing from me. Did I mention the tuft of faded red golden fur still stuck in my corner?

I really miss the toys and shoes and balls.

The man is back, standing on his back porch where he once folded up the boxes.

A Doghouse all Empty and Sad…

Bandits by LM Preston

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Bio
LM. Preston was born and raised in Washington, DC. An avid reader, she loved to create poetry and short-stories as a young girl. She worked in the IT field as a Techie and Educator for over sixteen years. She started writing science fiction under the encouragement of her husband who was a Sci-Fi buff and her four kids.

Blurb
Daniel’s father has gotten himself killed and left another mess for Daniel to clean up. To save his world from destruction, he must fight off his father’s killers while discovering a way to save his world. He wants to go it alone, but his cousin and his best friend’s sister, Jade insist on tagging along. Jade is off limits to him, but she insist on changing his mind. He hasn’t decided if loving her is worth the beating he’ll get from her brother in order to have her. Retrieving the treasure is his only choice. But in order to get it, Daniel must choose to either walk in his father’s footsteps or to re-invent himself into the one to save his world.

Excerpt from Chapter 6th of Bandits

BANDITS by LM Preston, Excerpt Chapter 6^th

Daniel felt someone following them. Frowning, he wondered who it was, but he didn’t take the time to ponder it further. He pushed Nickel into the car. Then he glared at Jade and got into the driver’s seat.

Faulk got in, also feeling the edginess of the impending threat.

“I’ve gotta get us to the water faster than I hoped,” Daniel said, not wasting a moment to see if everyone was secured in their seats.

Gritting his teeth, he sped off down the dirt road, through the dark, winding roads that led to the waterfront. He didn’t take in the hanging willow leaves, which brushed against his car, or the yellow moon high in the sky. He just knew that whoever was behind them had to be shaken.

Pushing the car into top speed, the car slid out as Faulk brushed his elbow while adjusting the navigator. Daniel’s patience with Faulk was gone. “What the hell did they teach you in flight school? Are you trying to kill us? Keep your hands away from me.”

The road ahead was rocky, and the lush underbrush moved with the car. A lit beach appeared ahead. The sound of laser fire surrounded them. Jerking out of the line of fire just in time, Daniel sped to the sands ahead of him. He knew if he timed it right they would be able to get to the water cruiser when the fog came.

In the time just before daylight, it would be the darkest hour of the night. Black, thick fog would roll in and stick around until mid morning. During the months of tiding, the tides ran high, and the weather varied greatly between land and sea. Only those trained on Merwin were able to navigate through the blinding fog.

Daniel yelled over the roar of the engine that rattled upon impact of a stray laser. “Time it! The fog… how long before it comes? I’ll try to out run them until it hits. It looks like two cars are on me. When I hit the brakes, get out and run like hell to the cruiser!”

Jade pulled Nickel close. “It hits in just two minutes. The sky is darkening… now!”

“Hold on! Gotta get us near the water cruiser,” Daniel exclaimed. He tightened his hands on the steering wheel, and pushed the power. A surge of adrenaline pumped in his blood. He was high on the sensation of the danger from the chase.

Murky waters of the sea started to rise heavily with each crash of the tide. The water darkened with each decent of the fog, and with the fog, came the curse of the black sea.

Faulk pushed back in his seat, putting his foot on the dash in a full-body cringe. “What the hell is that?  The sea looks like its turning black like the fog.”

“Welcome to Merwin, cuz. Jade, hold Nickel tight! Faulk grab the ammo. Nickel stay close to Jade. Get ready.NOW!” Daniel yelled.

He saw the water cruiser bounce with each crash and grinned. Its chains held it on the beach. He had just a small window of time to get to the water cruiser before the fog hit, and that would give him the temporary cover of darkness he needed to get away.

Driving at top speed, the car slid in the sand, and the distance lengthened between Daniel and his pursuers. The yellow moon up above started to disappear as fingers of black fog oozed in. Daniel timed it, knowing the initial hit of the smog would give them only a sliver of time, a second -of instant darkness they would use to get away. Within an hour, the fog would slowly dissipate to a dim haze.

Daniel yelled, “Get ready! On three… two… one,” then he hit the brakes. The car jerked and swung before it stopped. Daniel grabbed his gun, and leaped out the driver’s side door. Jade and Nickel jumped out the opposite side and ran to the water cruiser that was only several feet away on the sand, bobbing fiercely with each wave. Daniel saw Jade running with the bag full of ammunition.

Faulk stood, guns drawn. “Go to the boat before they get here! I brought a little something with me. So get out of the way!”  Faulk threw the mini-bomb in the direction of their pursuers and took off running behind Daniel.

Jade released the cruiser, and it was starting to pull off. Daniel climbed up on the cruiser and turned to pull up Faulk.

“Fog’s descending!” Jade yelled.

Daniel directed when he saw their pursuers cars slide to a stop within shooting distance, “Now. Faulk!”

Faulk pushed the button on the detonator he held in his hand. The mini-bomb exploded, and Daniel secured his spot at the wheel. Fire lit up behind them when the fog descended, turning the world around them completely black. Faulk started to cough excessively. He wasn’t used to the claustrophobic feeling of the descending fog, which covered Merwin in darkness enveloping its inhabitants in moisture so thick it felt like they were drowning.

Jade went to help Faulk. “Relax. Just take it in. Breathe slowly, or you will drown in it.”

Daniel figured she was rubbing his back with soothing strokes like they’d been taught to do as children.  He closed his eyes and let his memory lead him out of Death Cove and theislandofBethan, his home. Living on a planet of a million different islands was the one thing that made Daniel love Merwin. As a child growing up, he’d never run out of new places to explore, and being the son of an EBRA made his life even more exciting than most other Zukar boys.

He knew he couldn’t get to his father’s trove that night, so they’d stop at Jade’s family trove. Getting to his would take two days at sea. Flying on Merwin was prohibited, with the exception of the space ships owned by the Zukar that controlled them, or the King. For the sake of controlling trade on Merwin, clearance for air travel could only be given by the King himself.

Willows Oasis was Jade’s father’s trove. He had no choice now but to use her help, because she knew the combination to her father’s trove. He hoped they wouldn’t have to fight off Merpins, vicious cannibalistic Merwinians who were cast out to sea millions of years ago. They’d evolved in appearance from other Merwins who lived on land.

Listening, he realized Faulk had calmed down in the midst of the dark, heavy fog. The fog had let up a bit and was now a thick, gray, puffy mass around them. However, visibility was still nonexistent as they rode for several hours. Daniel steered the cruiser using the beacons and memory to get them around the danger spots in the dark seas. Daniel glanced at the water to gage the time left before daylight. The water had turned black with slithering silver veins of passing schools of fish.

The gray haze lifted, allowing visibility below the deck of the boat, but the water remained black. Silver fish broke through the darkness to eat the minoites. They broke through the surface to eat the tiny yellow fish that floated on top when the sea went black.

Faulk came up behind Daniel. “Hey, this place is crazy. Nothing prepared me for the fog. I don’t remember that from when I visited when I was a kid. Anyway, I know this is a stupid question – but what the hell is a trove?”

Daniel looked for his marker. The water cruiser would call to the Terconion markers buried in the sea, and those would lead him to Willows Oasis. He reflected on theIslandsof his homeland and smiled. “The Zukar, like my father, the ones who’d proven their worth, got permission to take the uninhabitable islands for their personal treasure troves. Jade’s dad and my father have the most coveted treasure troves on the entire planet. Since the planet’s mostly water, finding land to store wealth is hard to find. We’re going to Jade’s family trove first. It takes two days to get to mine.”

Faulk looked at the water and made and exaggerated quiver, rubbing his hands together, “A treasure trove?  Man, I can’t wait to see that.” He walked to edge of the boat and pointed to the black water. “What the hell are those?”

Daniel smiled. He was starting to warm up to having his cousin around. He pointed at the flurry of feeding fish and said, “They’re called Minoites. They break through the sea to eat the smaller fish that are dazed by the darkness.”

Faulk frowned at replied, “Yeah, they look vicious. You see those teeth?”

Daniel burst out and laughed at the look on Faulk’s face. “Yeah, they are vicious. They only come out in the fog, but they’ll eat you alive if you fall in. The fog is seasonal. We don’t get it all year long. I remember you coming inParadiseseason, when Merwin’s western region is sunny every day and rainy at night. That’s why you don’t remember the fog. Trust me… most off-worlders never forget this.”

“How’d you learn to navigate like this?” Faulk asked. His fingers slid together like he was anxious to try.

Daniel’s gut filled with a sense of regret and loss. “Since I was maybe three, my dad would tell me to close my eyes and steer with him. He brought me out to his trove every chance he could get back then. My mother would stay at the house, and my father would train me in the ways of the Zukar. When Nickel was a toddler, my mother died, and I had to drive a lot of the time because my father had to take care of Nickel.”

“Why didn’t your father remarry?” Faulk asked.

Daniel moved around the water vines that protruded from the water when the fog came. “He said no one could replace her. He had women and all, but they never stuck around long. It was like… like, he didn’t want them to get cozy and take my mother’s place or something. I can’t explain it, but I felt the same way. Only problem was, Nickel never got to have a mother. Kind of selfish of us, now that I think about it.”  Regrets bubbled up within him, and again, he pushed it down, deep down where it belonged.

“How did you meet Gabe?” Faulk turned back to check on Jade and Nickel.

“The EBRA was started by Haden, Bry, and my father. They were the best Zukar here at the time. Actually, there is none better than they were – not even today. Haden runs the EBRA now, since my father sort of stopped doing his job.” Daniel shrugged. “Something happened to him on a job that he did alone about three years ago, and when he returned, he just…changed. Bry, Gabe’s father, bowed out and opened his club. Haden is the only active EBRA of them, and he has over 500 EBRA he’s in charge of. Gabe and I always got along well, like the same things, and worked the same EBRA jobs. Not to mention, we like the ladies,” Daniel admitted with a sheepish laugh.

Faulk turned away from Nickel and Jade, turning his gaze to the dark sea. “They fell asleep. How much longer?”

“We’re almost there, but I gotta take it slow over here. This is Merpin territory and we sure as hell don’t want to wake them. They’ve got a thing for flesh. Our scents carry on the wind the more we move. When they smell it, they attack. Besides, there are too many jagged rocks. If I go too fast, we’ll sink, and become breakfast.” Daniel squinted and watched out for the fish like Merpins.

Faulk expelled a deep breath. “Just great. What is a Merpin anyway? You ever see one?”

“I only had one run in with Merpins. I was out with my friend Tomas at the time, and his father died saving me from being eaten alive.”

“Hell!” Faulk ran a shaky hand through his short black hair.

“Scared? You’re the one who ran from your safe, soft world to come here.” Daniel chuckled at Faulk’s wary expression.

The water cruiser moved easily through the murky waters, and Daniel and Faulk stood quietly, looking out to the foggy, dark waters. The Minoites’ feeding frenzy was over, and the dawn came in quietly.

“What was that?” Faulk called out when the water cruiser was jarred, followed by a thump on the bottom.

Daniel growled. “Merpins! Wake them up. I’m gonna try to out run them. We’re almost to Willows Oasis.”

Faulk went over to the others and yelled out. “Wake up! Jade! Nickel! Get a weapon… anything. Oh God…one is climbing up the side!” He shot at the Merpin that was clawing its way up the side of the boat. Its black, stringy hair, white skin, long curved teeth, and predatory sea-blue eyes looked haunted with starvation. “Damn, I missed!”

Daniel spied another Merpin clawing its webbed hand into the cruiser as its webbed feet hung over the railing of the cruiser. “There’s another one!” His stomach filled with dread, because he knew there were others to follow. Aggravated, he reminded himself not to speed too fast through this rough sea of rocks, and hidden reefs or they would all perish and become the starving creatures’ meal. A shriek sounded behind him. He saw Faulk and the creature in the midst of a stand off.

Faulk looked stunned, mesmerized by the hungry, growling creature’s slanted eyes.

Daniel yelled out to Faulk. “Kill him! Aim for the head. Do itNOWFaulk!”   He steered the water cruiser around the protruding rocks where the Merpins sometimes slept.

Faulk snapped out of his daze as the Merpin lunged at him. He shot it, and the Merpin fell back into the water with his sharp green teeth exposed.

This isn’t over yet. Daniel swallowed hard.

Jade ran to the back of the boat. “There are two more in the back, but – I got them.”

Daniel heard one scream out from her shot, it’s piercing yell surrounding them. Daniel knew the death-cry of the creature would draw many others. He put in the command for the cruiser to release the knives on its underside, hoping that would deter more of the Merpins from climbing onto the boat for their breakfast. He was rewarded with numerous screams from the Merpins that were already attached to the bottom of the water cruiser.

“Grab something! I’m out of rock territory. I’m gonna to pick up the speed. If you go over the side you’ll be breakfast,” Daniel warned before the cruiser speed increased.

The ship jerked with the pull of the engines. He navigated quickly through the rocks, careful to not hit any. The cruiser dragged a distance before the bodies of the dead Merpins attached to the knives on the bottom fell and floated out to sea.

Jade backed up toward Daniel. He glanced at her and saw her eyes filled with horror.

“Crap! Get them. There are two of them … next to Nickel!” she yelled out at Faulk.

Nickel looked up from where he sat getting more ammunition out of the bags.

She aimed her darts to kill the Merpins that were quickly climbing up the back of the cruiser. Daniel pivoted to see the sickening pale and greedy sea cannibal lick its lips at the anticipation of his capture of Nickel. Jade’s darts hit each Merpin in the eye, and they fell back off the ship with a loud splash.

Faulk shot at the three Merpins that were holding onto the back of the boat. One jumped over the edge of the boat, and its webbed feet landed easily on the deck. Its clawed fingers and scaled torso bent over and sliced through the flesh on Faulk’s arm in its attempt to take a bite out of him. Faulk roared in pain. He fired consecutively and the creature’s lifeless, bleeding body fell into the murky sea.

“Nickel? Nickel! Hold on.” Jade called out as she ran toward him.

Daniel’s gut filled with anger and fear. They’d cleared the rocks and were so close to Willows Oasis. The warmer waters should help slow the Merpins down. “Can’t help you! I gotta get us out of here.”

As he navigated them to safety, Daniel periodically glanced back to check on the others. “Faulk! Kill it. Jade use your poison darts with his fire.”

Jade went to her hip and grabbed her poison darts. The Merpin pulled Nickel, who fought and struggled while screaming out. Daniel’s hand slipped off the wheel as he went for his gun and the cruiser jerked.

“No! Daniel, get us out of here. I got this!” Jade yelled.

Daniel reluctantly grabbed the wheel and maneuvered just in time to evade a large rock. The cruiser lunged to the side, and Daniel held onto the wheel. Jade adjusted her stance and ran toward Nickel with darts aimed high.

Nickel screamed out as he struggled against the Merpin’s grip. It dragged his lower body over the side of the cruiser. Nickel held onto the side with fierce determination, tears of fear welling up in eyes.

Jade aimed for the Merpin’s eyes and hands with darts in both of her closed fists. One, then two darts hit their targets. The Merpin cried out when it released Nickel, and fell screaming backwards into the sea. Jade’s remaining darts flew over the edge of the cruiser with it. Nickel pulled himself up and over the side of the boat. He shook his head and stood, tears from fear streaming down his face.

Faulk fired one last shot, and the last Merpin slid down the side of the ship and into the knives that protruded from the back of the water cruiser. “It’s dragging on the boat!”  He shot the Merpin off the knife’s edge, which held him.

Daniel warned, “Make sure they’re gone. I don’t want to drag any with us to Willows Oasis. One of those things could eat us whole if it got its claws lodged in us.”

They split up and checked the sides of the water cruiser, and spoke their confirmations of their safety.

Faulk came up to stand next to Daniel. “Man, I’m so tired I could pass out. After that – though, I don’t think I’m going to sleep for at least a week without one eye open.” Faulk shook his hands in disgust. “Those things were freakin’ ugly. We definitely don’t have creatures like those on Earth.”

“Get used to it. This isn’t Earth,” Daniel answered.

Jade checked on Nickel.

Nickel hastily moved her hand from his face and sat down on the deck, turning away from her. “I’m okay,” he mumbled.

Jade strolled over to Daniel and stood on the opposite side of Faulk. “So, for my first adventure, I’d say I did just fine – you know, being a girl and all. Don’t you think so, Daniel?”

Daniel groaned. “Your brother’s going to kill me. When we get to your father’s trove, you’re staying there.”

Jade put her hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “Not on your life. When are you going to tell me what’s going on Daniel?  I know you didn’t just come over to pick up Gabe. Something bad must’ve happened. Tell me! I have a right to know, you know. I mean, I smuggled that key out for you and everything.”

He tensed. The thought of telling her his father had been killed, made him feel uneasy. She called his father ‘Poppy’, and his father doted on her like she was his own daughter. He knew once she found out, she’d be hard to ditch, but he also knew he could no longer keep the tragedy hidden.

Realizing he still wasn’t ready to tell her, he answered, “Leave it.  I’ll tell you everything when we get to your father’s trove.”

He knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t give up to easy. She had fought Gabe and him for years to prove that she was just as strong and skilled in the ways of the Zukar as they were. Gabe and he had indulged her little tirades for the most part, except on those occasions where she got so obnoxious that they had to physically lock her in her room to keep her quiet. That didn’t last long, either, because Jade was excellent at picking all types of locking mechanisms. He knew if he told her what happened to his father, she’d want more answers than he had.

The remaining ride was calm, and Nickel came up to stand next to Jade. “Can you let me drive?” Nickel asked in his imitation grown up voice.

Daniel smiled. “Yeah, come over and let me guide you for awhile.” He and his father had been teaching Nickel to navigate the seas of Merwin since he could walk. Daniel trusted Nickel was capable of navigating most spots. Once Nickel had a firm grip on the wheel, Daniel slowly let go.

Jade stomped her foot and then blocked Daniel’s path. “Why should I have to wait?  I want to know the situation now, Daniel.”

Daniel looked toward her with a frown. “Forget it. I’m not talking.”

She looked angrily away from Daniel. Tapping her foot, she turned a pensive look to Faulk, with a seductive flutter of her long eyelashes, and a pursing of her lips, she lowered her voice. “Faulk, you know what happened. Tell me. I’ve a right to know.”

Faulk shook his head. “Sorry gorgeous, I have to agree with my cousin on this. Occasionally the salty dufus knows what he’s talking about. It should wait.”

Faulk walked over to the ammunition bag and pulled out two guns. He tucked one in the back of his belted pants and put the other in his holster. Grabbing part of the torn flag on the cruiser, Faulk tied it around his wound. He rubbed his arm where the Merpin had cut him with its long hooked claw, before he sat on the seat looking outward to the back of the boat.

Daniel watched him with an upturn of his lip. He realized Faulk’s run-in with the Merpins had left him shaken. He walked over to Faulk and stared at the gray waters behind them. “They can’t follow us here.  The waters are too warm. It weakens them, making them prey for other sea predators.”

Faulk replied with a relieved nod of his head as he looked at the darkest, hungriest sea he’d ever seen.

7

Daniel turned away from his cousin to watch Nickel steer the cruiser while Jade directed him to her father’s trove. The misty air and murky sea cleared as they broke through the calming waves of Willows Oasis. With the fog behind them, Daniel squinted with the light of the rising sun. The island’s green, sandy banks and massive willow trees came into view when Nickel steered closer.

Daniel got up from his seat and reclaimed his spot as the captain of the cruiser. “I’ll take it from here,” Daniel said to younger brother.

Jade didn’t bother directing Daniel. She knew he had been to her family’s trove many times with Gabe. Sitting there quietly, she watched him while he navigated to her trove.

He steered in silence, wondering who murdered his father. I know he ticked the EBRA off with the mess up on that last job, but it wasn’t a big loss. Still, the Vipen sect needs little motivation to kill someone of another sect.  

Jade pointed to the alcove on theislandofWillows, where her father’s trove lay buried. Jarred out of his thoughts, he steered the cruiser into a hidden niche several yards from the island’s edge. Huge hanging willow trees flanked the island, their long roots protruding from the ground to snake along the jagged edges of the island. The gigantic roots of the trees slinked into the green, splashing waves of the sea.

Jade led Nickel and Faulk into covering the cruiser with the hanging limbs of the willow trees. Daniel looked around at the thick curtain of branches and leaves surrounding the cruiser to make sure they were well hidden.

Faulk nodded, looking at their work. “This should be good. I can’t see out of here, and I’m sure no one can see in.”

“Yeah, it’s good.” Daniel said confidently. “Nickel go into the belly of the cruiser and get out the swim gear.” He spied Nickel shooting pipens at the hanging branches. His slingshot, shot with accuracy at each branch, and the pipen rock burned through each leaf it hit, before melting away with fire.

A look of apprehension quickly passed over Faulk’s face. “Where are we swimming to?”

Jade secured her gear tightly. “We can only get to my father’s trove through an underwater entrance, but it’ll take us a mile walk to get there. We haven’t been here in over a year. Ever since he started the club and his manager, Trix, got killed, he hasn’t had the time to take on any snatch jobs. So, he’s had no treasures to bring here, and no time to inspect the place.”

Daniel held his lips firm, trying not to smile at Faulk’s discomfort. “Faulk, there are no Merpins here. They only hang out in the cool waters of the isle of Bethan at the edge of the black seas. But, these waters have Tiliquens. They’re gold, snakelike pests that sting you if they get spooked. They’re harmless, just don’t tick them off.”

Jade nudged Faulk with her elbow and smiled at him reassuringly. “We have to get to the island on the dock. If we park the boat alongside the island, a booby trap of knives will come up.”

Faulk shook his head in disbelief. “You gotta be kidding me!”

Jade smiled. “Nope.”

Nickel returned with the wet gear and dumped it on the ground. Daniel grabbed the headgear from Nickel that they would use for breathing underwater.

Faulk tried on the goggles, and nosepiece, which fed him oxygen. “Great. This freakin’ planet is a death-trap, not a playground. I’m just surprised kids survive here. Earth is nothing at all like this. The only good think about this place is I don’t need an oxygen injection to visit here.”

Daniel breathed in the sweet air of Merwin, and thought back to his one visit to Earth, for the funeral of his mother. Her family insisted that his father return her home. Sometimes he missed her so much, but he always managed to press past it. He couldn’t bring her back, and now his father was with her. Grudgingly, he admitted that he missed the old man too. The seeping feeling of grief threatened to spill from his chest, but he buried it away. His anger at his father’s changed ways wouldn’t let go, and now, it tightened in his chest with regret and a piercing pain of sadness. He shook his head to stave off the memories as Jade’s call to Faulk sank in, and absently rubbed the beaded necklace his mom made him for comfort.

Jade opened the sack Nickel brought up and said, “Faulk, we won’t need to use this gear yet. Grab some blades, though. We may need them. It’s been a while since we’ve been here, and on Merwin, if you don’t keep some places cleared away, you never know what may grow there.” She pointed ahead. “There is an underwater dock that’ll rise when I activate my code. Once we’re off the dock, we’ll have to walk through the wild, slithering willow patch.”  She hooked her swim mask on the belt at her hip, and then went to the edge of the water cruiser, where she climbed down into the water to activate the lift for the underwater pier.

Faulk frowned. “Why don’t I like the sound of the slithering willow patch?”  He watched Jade walk through the green murky waters, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

“Because you’ve a good reason. That’s one of the first booby traps – of many.” Daniel stood with his arms crossed. “Each trove has deadly traps. Jade’s father has one of the more difficult troves to find, and to navigate. Jade was taught to find her way here when she was a kid. She’ll be able to lead us around the traps so we’ll be able to make it to the trove alive,” Daniel added, purposely leaving out the word unharmed. He knew getting to a Zukar’s trove could end in a lot of bumps and bruises – even death.

Jade yelled from the island’s edge. “Guys! Hey, it’s lifting. It only stays above water for a few minutes, and then it will drop back into the sea before it makes its way back to its hidden spot. Hurry up!”

Nickel pulled the willow branches further back to reveal the rocky dock that had risen up next to their water cruiser. “I’m so going next.”

Daniel took Nickel’s place and held back the branches. “Okay, go Nickel! Now you Faulk.” He pushed on Faulk’s back “Quick! You don’t want to get pulled under when the thing’s timer goes off,” Daniel added, and watched Faulk jump before he himself dropped down off the boat. His feet landed with a splash on the wet dock.

Nickel landed on the wet, rocky surface and ran as water crashed against the sides of the pathway with each wave. Faulk didn’t hesitate to follow, and Daniel ran behind them. Daniel yelled to Faulk, “Move it! Faster! It’s sinking!”

Faulk stopped abruptly as Nickel squatted in front of him to pick up his slingshot. Faulk slid and fell to his knees as water furiously splashed up on the side of the pathway.

Faulk righted himself on the rocky path. “Hey!” Faulk stood up and pushed Nickel lightly on the back.

Nickel jumped, and started to run.

“Keep moving!’ Daniel ran past Faulk to scoop Nickel up. He picked up speed when he felt the jerk of the platform while it started to sink deeper into the water.

Faulk was at his heels, and they were almost to the edge. “Oh hell, we’re gon-na die!”

“Hurry! That’s the last warning!” Jade exclaimed, waving her arms frantically.

“I’m throwing Nickel!” Daniel said right before he felt another jerk and cold water lapped against his calves.

Daniel knew he only had two minutes to get to the edge. With a grunt, he tossed his brother forward. Nickel landed on the grassy sand at Jade’s feet. He and Faulk raced side by side and then he felt the last jerk before the final pull of the dock into the depths of the sea. They were almost there to the islands edge.

Daniel grabbed Faulk’s arm, and yelled, “Jump! NOW!”  He pulled Faulk forward while they both dropped and fell with a thud on the soft, sandy surface. He looked back to the sea and caught a glimpse of the rocky dock as it surged up out of the water one last time. With a creak, it jerked down with such speed that the waters separated before rushing over the opening created by its departure.

Faulk was breathing hard from the exertion. “Please tell me the traps get easier. If we had stayed on that thing a second more, we would’ve drowned.”

Daniel laughed out at Faulk’s fear. “You’re right. Even I couldn’t have survived that kind of undertow, and I’m an excellent swimmer.” He elbowed Faulk. “Sorry, cuz. You wanted an adventure right? I told you to be careful what you asked for. Let’s go. Jade and Nickel are leaving us,” Daniel said as he pointed to them.

As he stood and reached out his hand to help his cousin stand, Faulk looked at him and his face broke out into a grin. The same cocky grin Daniel remembered from the day Faulk had first appeared at his door. At that moment, he realized Faulk was looking forward to the challenges ahead. He returned his cousin’s smile, and slapped him on the back before they took off in a jog to catch

Interview
1. In three days, all power will go off, everywhere for a very long time. What will you include in your author survival kit?
My Ipad, Baby Ruth, Starbucks Mocha Latte, and my laptop.

2. Where did the idea for the work you are promoting arise?
My son asked me to write a book about a teen pirate and I got the idea for the world I build from my trip to Hawaii.

3. What do you like to read?
I love to read horror, thrillers and young adult paranormal.

4. Tell us about the most exciting place you have ever visited?
The Big Island in Hawaii and Italy.

5. What is the most mundane, day to day, thing you can share about yourself?
I’m an Engineer who goes to meetings all day.

6. What scares you the most?
Not being able to do all the things on my life goal list before time runs out.

7. Tell us anything but keep it G rated.
I have a secret addiction to foreign karate flicks.

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Keywords:
lmpreston, lm preston, action adventure, mg, ya, adventure, romance, fantasy, 99cents, scifi,

LM Preston
YA SciFi Author
WEBSITE: www.lmpreston.com
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UPCOMING BOOKS
EXPLORER X – Alpha (Buy Now, Amazon and All bookstores)
The Pack (Buy Now, Amazon and All bookstores)
BANDITS

Writing stories for and about kids that overcome the impossible…

Next Week James Gurley  will be in the Writerly Wednesday Spotlight!

Home Sweet Home

3
A roof and floors don’t make a home.

It takes people, it takes time and you have to really understand what home is.

There is no way a new house, slammed together, then sold to the next unworthy family can know.

One family didn’t make me a home, they were using me as a waiting place, I am not sure they owned me. That was a long time ago.

This family, if you want to call it that, didn’t fit at all. First off, there were too many of them. I mean there were not enough of them. Just two, one of each. They were pretty much just getting started, poor girl, didn’t know how to work a house to her own advantage.

You don’t just move in and call it home. You have to touch a place. Leave your mark. Leave your mark with love and satisfaction. She could barely run the broom. I don’t know where she was living before or who should have been bringing her along.

The man who came with her, well, if you ask me, he was no good for her. He sent her off on a train to see her sister, I think it was. The girl was having a baby or something, not yet, months away. But the fellow, he couldn’t wait to get her out of there.

As soon as the dumb girl was out of the house, there he went. He came back with a mop, some cleaning stuff and went to town. Got me to shining. He even got the drain cover things in the sinks all cleaned up.

Then the man took to hanging new curtains.

I didn’t know what to think. Unless the fellow took to talking out loud to himself about what he was doing, I could only watch.

But, it was appearing rather home like. Comfy. Warm. Cozy.

I was okay with it. After all, don’t all houses want to become a home? More that the sum of its plumbing and wires?

I waited.

I watched.

The man left one afternoon, I was sure he was off to the trrain station to get his woman.

I waited expectantly to see her. I wanted to hear how nice I had turned out. I wanted to hear the man boast about me. I wanted them to do a grand sweep through all of my rooms, I wanted the man to open and present my closets, my nooks to the woman who would coo and make over my homelyness.

The man was gone a long time. Dust gathered. My shine was becomeing drab. Well kept, no one was there to leave a mess or clutter or dishes in the sink.

I had a lonesome look, it had been an expectant look but now it had faded like curtains left too long on the south facing windows.

When the leaves began to drop outside and the windows cooled, he came back.

The man was sad and aged. He walked from room to room. He went through the motions of living as much as he could. Dishes sat. The stove went un wiped.

One day, just as the last leaves fell off the scrub mayple tree, he packed up his clothes and bathroom things.

The man took one more long slow walk through my rooms and let himself out through the back door off the kitchen.

I must have wintered. I don’t know how much time passed. I went inside myself, as houses in neglect and abandonment are known to do. It isn’t sad, this going in, it is timeless. Resting. No resentments, no sores to heal, we simply go inside ourselves. And wait.

It isn’t the concious wait like I did when the man went off to get his woman. This is a deep deep place of contentment. Almost a non being. Time doesn’t pass for us when we go inside. It simply is.

I know it was spring time when I began to come out again. I could tell by the feel, the slant of the sun and the smells in the air. I could not have picked a better time to begin to awaken than springtime. I noticed first off when some of my windows flew open. A fire was lit in the fireplace downstairs.

I was groggy if you can call it that so I did not become expectant or jubilent or even curious at first. I took my time coming around.

I had after all been right on the edge of becoming a home when something happened, out there. I was reluctant to look forward to or form any imagining for my future.

The curtains left I don’t know how long ago were taken down by a busy woman. She was young. She was smart. She was very business like. She took down curtains, cleaned my window sills, mopped and swept and had me cleaned up in no time at all.

There wasn’t any grime, the fellow before her had done a good job. She left for a day or two but I did not consider going back inside myself, the warm springtime sun felt good coming through unshaded windows, slanting sunshine on my floors.

In a few more days, the woman was back, with a man and children.

The children flew through wildly as if they had been caged for too long. They ran and explored every closet and cabinet. They played hide and seek. They were happy and distractable. One of them found a tiny crawlspace under the outside of me, I don’t have a basement. He played down there for whole afternoons.

The woman started my stove and stored food. She spent hours in the kitchen cooking things and had the man carve out a garden.

It didn’t take long for them to settle in.

They were a predictable family, sleeping and rising and playing and cooking.

I don’t know where the man worked but he cleaned up and dressed nice every workday and came home every evening.

It was a busy time. Some of my rooms went unused. The first couple didn’t use but one room upstairs. I had five up there. Now, they used two rooms.

The boys slept in the same room. The man or woman would read to them each night untill they fell asleep.

One winter, I think it was still the first winter, I have never been too good at time, houses aren’t all that interested in what year it is. It isn’t our business to worry.

The woman rounded out. The man was especially kind to her. He insisted she rest, put her feet up. He treated her like a queen from one of the stories they had read to the boys.

She stayed down for a while but soon was up and cooking, cleaning and she opened up the room next to hers and the mans upstairs.

One day she hung the sweetest curtains and the man brought a crib up there.

One night the woman cried out. A woman from town came and the energy was like no other. Awareness was sharp and tension in the house rang like a bell throughout. The boys came in and visisted the woman then left to their own room.

The woman from town sent the man off to read to the boys.

After a while of roaming the hallway, pacing like a only a man can pace, he was ushered back into the room where the woman appeared very distressed in a bed now padded with towels.

The woman rose up on her knees in the soft springy bed and seemed to be concentrating very hard. Soon she was looking like she might be about to kneed some bread, right there on the bed.

Next thing I know, there is a joyful sound and a tiny mewling squeaking.

The boys slept on. The woman from town set off with a bundle down the steps to the kitchen. This was my first baby, I didn’t know what the woman was doing in the kitchen, I feared the worst.

Upstairs the man was so happy and when the woman had rested a bit she asked him what they had.

A girl.

The joy was enough to fuel me for the next two changes of season. If houses slept, I would have felt deprived. It was noisey at all hours.

The boys adoreed the baby girl. They dropped in just to watch her sleep.

The woman didn’t take long to get back full on with cleaning and cooking a cooing over the new baby. She’d keep the infant in a laundry basket on the kitchen table as she worked.

The man and woman read to the boys every night.

The man went to work, still clean, still happy.

The garden grew the next year and the man turned more soil and planted more.

The baby girl was walking when once more the man tried to get the woman to take things slower and easier.

The last time he did this, a child followed.

I let myself become expectant with him.

This was a happy family. Sometimes the boys would fight and sometimes the woman raised her voice.

One day she grabbed up a broom and began chasing the boys around the house. They shreaked with laughter. She chased them some more then stopped an rubbed her belly.

She sent the tallest boy out on an errand and the smaller boy helped with the little girl.

By the time the man came home from work, the woman from town was already there and the woman was working hard.

And so the family grew. Another girl. The boys came in and visited the baby and the woman. Then the man scooted them off and and read a story.

For a while, both girls used the room next to the man and womans room. Then they opened up the fourth of the five rooms upstairs.

The woman was quite busy with the toddling girl and the infant. The toddler was too big to keep in a basket but the new one did just fine.

By this time I began to take my cozyness to heart. I was becoming. I no longer worried about the time I might go inside myself. I was comfortable, busy, humming.

I was a home. I know it because a house always knows when they become a home.

-  Home Sweet Home

Next Week The Gingerbread House has a story to tell..