Welcome back to Sanderson's saga in the wilderness, taken from book 3 of An Everlasting Heart series, A Heart at Home.
To set the scene, former Confederate Captain and POW Sanderson Redding, in the company of his pregnant wife Charlotte, was traveling the trail from Arkansas to California when he was forced to leave Charlotte at a camp of friendly Paiutes while he had to go negotiate the release of two hostages from a nearby renegade band of Paiutes. As Sanderson is trying to figure out how to go about negotiations with no men in camp, the Cavalry attacks ...
“It was just going to be women and children in camp,” Sanderson mused as Heart That Cries, Knocks Down, and Strawberry Moon meandered over to where he and Cotton stood on the battlefield. He rested a hand on the youngster's onyx head. “It was pure luck that the chief was here ... and that’s thanks to you, Cotton.”
The lad raised his weepy sky-blue eyes and sniffled. “Thanks to me?”
Sanderson nodded. “For carving so many Q's in the Chief's war lance that it broke and he had to come back to camp." Cotton glanced at Chief Knocks Down, who still sat tall and proud atop his spotted pony.
Catch up on Sanderson and Charlotte's adventures through An Everlasting Heart series, starting with book 1, A Heart on Hold. After receiving word that Sanderson was killed during a botched escape from a Confederate prison in Illinois, Charlotte wastes no time in heading north through a war-ravaged country with only her faith in God and her beloved horse to bring her Sanderson home -- one way or another.
A Heart Broken, An Everlasting Heart #2
The war is over, Sanderson is home, and life is good ... until the Army comes knocking. They've charged Sanderson with murder and sentenced him to track down the notorious outlaw William Quantrill -- or face the hangman's noose. Meanwhile, Charlotte is left alone to endure a complicated pregnancy and battle a rash of hydrophobia that threatens Cotton, Achilles, and the entire countryside -- her Sanderson included.
A Heart at Home An Everlasting Heart #3
Gold. Massacres. Soldiers. Indians. Can Charlotte survive life on the trail or will the wildness of the west tear her family apart?
With Sanderson's job as an Indian Agent beckoning from California, Charlotte must leave behind her life in Arkansas to follow the man she loves, and whose child she is carrying, in search of a place they can call home.
From
Quanah Parker to Wyatt Earp, Charlotte and Sanderson rub shoulders with some of
the American West’s most notable characters as they stumble into Government
conspiracies, endure a hard pregnancy, and survive nature’s fury -- all while
struggling to remember what truly makes a home is love.
***COMING JUNE 2013***
Be sure to check out some more work by Sara Barnard, including her Amazon bestselling children's nature book, The ABC's of Oklahoma Plants and her consistently 5-star rated debut picture book, Chunky Sugars. 
Thank you for visiting and be sure to visit some more awesome author sites back at the Weekend Writing Warriors website!
I like the visuals in your snippet
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jess!
DeleteInteresting little moment. Does that fall under the law of unexpected consequences to our actions? :) Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete(And it wasn't immediately clear to me in the setup that Anderson is a former POW.)
Thanks for stopping by! Yes, this snippet is from book 3, Sanderson was a POW waaaaay back in book 1 :-)
DeleteInteresting how this story is unfolding - excellent excerpt!
ReplyDeleteThanks Veronica!!
DeleteExcellent ~ can't wait to read the whole book!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mom! Hugs!
DeleteNot clear at all who Cotton is, but I suspect that's a length problem. Was he one of the captives?
ReplyDeleteHey Sue Ann! Thanks for stopping by! I suppose I did kind of fling our boy Cotton in there unannounced :-) Next week I am starting back at book 1, A Heart on Hold, so we an meet ALL the characters from the beginning :-) (and you were right ... Cotton was one of the captives ... ;-) )
DeleteNice eight, Sara.
ReplyDeleteUnrelated: an odd thing happened when your site came up. Google Chrome told me it was in Romanian and asked if I wanted it translated. I clicked no.
Kate, that is what I get for messing with widgits LOL Some people have no business meddling with technology ... I am one of them LOL Thanks for stopping by and for the heads up!!
DeleteI love the sound of all of the books in the series. These two have had a hard time.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Elaine!!! Glad you stopped by! Next week, we are starting back at book 1 ... A Heart on Hold :-)
DeleteI like the twist on the Confederate soldier story - so much seems to be written about during the war, not so much after.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by! I agree ... after taking Charlotte and Sanderson through the War, I wanted to keep up with their lives because the War was just the beginning ... :-)
DeleteBy the way, LOVED your eight this week!