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EXCERPT
Showdown
at Charbonets
a 6,000-word Western Suspense
Thriller by Rosalie More
Annabel
sat on the front steps of the verandah straining her eyes and ears in the
gathering darkness. The moon hovered barely above the horizon, shedding little
light on the ribbon of road. After hours of waiting for Samuel’s return from
the warehouse, her impatience had grown in uneasy stages from alarm to
all-consuming dread. Where could he be?
Aunt Ruby tottered out of the
house and held a flaming taper to the oil-soaked wick of a lantern. “If you
think something has happened to Sam, why don’t you take Jasper and go look for
him?”
A glow of light spreading outward
from the lantern pushed back the dark. Annabel forced a smile. “I’m probably
worrying for nothing.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t come home
for supper. He never passes up sausage, gravy, and biscuits.”
Annabel rose to her feet. Something was
wrong. Samuel couldn’t work at the warehouse after dark. No matter how many
candles and oil lamps he had, there wouldn’t be enough light. Could he be
making the rounds of the saloons looking for that wagon driver he needed? Or had
Gustave Charbonet caught up with him?
“I’ll go
look for him.” Annabel headed for the door.
“Get Jasper to hitch up the horses to the
phaeton,” Aunt Ruby suggested.
Annabel went
inside for her shawl. On impulse, she grabbed Ezra’s old pocket pistol out of
the desk drawer.
Aunt Ruby shuffled in behind her. “Now, you be
careful with that! I keep it loaded and ready to fire.”
“Don’t worry, I’m always careful.”
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" I'm happy to share this story with you. Hopefully,
you'll love the fast-paced action so much that you'll want to read my
full-length fiction novels. If you enjoy adventure, romance, spies, and suspense, you'll
love Allegiance, a tale from the Old West, as well as my suspenseful Honor
Among Thieves."
You'll receive the complete story as a PDF
file. It can be read on any computer screen with Acrobat Reader, which is
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to print out the story.
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