The Comanchero's Bride by Kaye Spencer – June #blogabookscene #PrairieRosePubs

The #blogabookscene theme for June is On the road again.  The traveling excerpt below is from my western romance novel, The Comanchero's Bride. Mingo and Isabel are on the run from a powerful man hellbent on killing Mingo so he can marry Isabel.

EXCERPT

Isabel lost track of the days. Hour after weary hour, creaking saddle leather, plodding steps of horses’ hooves, and the wind worrying the grass were the only sounds. Sometimes, she couldn’t remember what it was like to be warm. Other times, she shed her heavy garments. Horseback riding for pleasure had been one of her favorite pastimes, but with a sidesaddle and only on short jaunts, not for grueling miles at a stretch in a saddle that she had to straddle in an unladylike fashion. Still, tiresome though it was, crossing the prairie on horseback was like attending a traveling school. Each hour, each day brought something new, and she soaked it up with the exuberance of a child who has just learned to read and then realizes an entire world of unimagined adventure awaits her discovery.

Mingo showed her how to keep her directions straight in the dark by using the North Star as a fixed point and to tell time at night by the position of the constellations. Watching The Hunter’s trek across the sky helped her endure many long, cold hours, and when it hung low in the western sky, she knew sunrise was near and that usually meant food and rest in the warmth of Mingo’s arms as they snuggled under the blankets in some secluded hideaway. She learned how to go without hot meals and baths, but most useful of all, she learned how to sleep in the saddle as miles of dark, monotonous prairie sameness lulled her into a stupor.

 

She loved listening to the stories Mingo told of his life, which helped to pass the time. Then other times, he often didn’t speak for hours, needing silence in order to hear the night noises—coyotes yipping, owls hooting, the breeze humming through the greasewood and scrub trees, and an occasional cow lowing or dog barking in the distance. He said these things talked to him, explaining to him what stirred out in the dark places where he couldn’t see.

 

Always, though, he focused on the land, constantly surveying it from near-to-far and back, both ahead and behind, and Isabel soon fell into the same observations. He made decisions with the seasoned confidence of a man who knew how to make their passing virtually invisible.

 

He was a mercurial spirit, constant, yet ever changing with uncanny intuition, which prompted him to leave an obvious path for a trail only he could see. They left tracks. He covered their tracks. They doubled back, and they circled around. He purposely chose rough terrain to discourage followers and to make their passing difficult to trace. 

 

Sometimes they rode by daylight and rested by night. He plotted their way from water source to water source then, for no reason she could discern, he would pass up watering holes when they needed to refill their canteens. When she asked, he could only shrug and say he listened to his instincts. Even though he thought out every move with deliberate care, the moment she was comfortable with their routine, he changed it. She observed his every movement, questioned him to find out his thoughts in order to learn everything she could.

 

She prayed nothing would separate them again, but always in the back of her mind, the possibility lurked. And she knew it was those same fears, although he never said so, that pushed him to teach her how to live and survive without him. He told of landmarks to watch for in order to keep her bearings straight for the Rio Grande. She memorized the names of allies along the way and where they lived. He assured her as long as she kept her path southerly, someone in his family would eventually locate her.

 

 

The Comanchero's Bride is also included in the boxed set Under a Western Sky.

 

 

 

 

The Comanchero's Bride is available as a single novel HERE.

 

It is also included in the boxed set, Under a Western Sky, which is available HERE.

 

 

 

 

Until next time,

Kaye Spencer

 
 

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