In this sequel to Tumbleweed Fever, the story of Devlin Brown, an ex-outlaw, and Sarah Tolliver, the woman of her heart, continues.
Sarah and Devlin must convince the ranchers around them to destroy the wire fences that contain their cattle to avoid certain calamity. Amidst the beautiful and sometimes unforgiving land of the Oklahoma Territory, Sarah and Devlin begin a new life. Adventure and mysticism abound as they revisit the Choctaw camp.
Sarah must decide whether she will undergo the clan rituals that will allow her to join with the former outlaw in a ceremony that will bind their hearts together forever. Each woman must undergo an incredible test of her individual skills and all the while race against time to prevent a premonition from becoming a frightening reality.
About the Author
LJ Maas is the author of Tumbleweed Fever, None So Blind, Meridio's Daughter, Prairie Fire, and coming in 2003, Rebecca's Cove. Her novels are published by Renaissance Alliance Publishing, Inc.Originally from Chicago, LJ now resides in Oklahoma with her partner of almost 6 years. They have an eight-year-old daughter (a blonde, lab/retriever mix who simply doesn't believe she's a dog). Along with writing full time, LJ teaches computer graphics and a variety of writing classes at a local college.
Excerpt. Β© Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Her newly heightened senses picked up an unmistakable odor.
Smoke.
Suddenly there was a feeling like panic rushing through her. Everywhere she turned animals ran in different directions. Sarah clapped her hands over her ears to shut out the sound of thunder. It was as if she were right on top of a thunderhead. The sound grew so loud it shook the earth. Her eyes opened wide when she realized that the sound wasnβt thunder.
Looking in all directions, she saw walls of burning hot flames. They quickly spread across the range, feeding on everything in their path. Just ahead of the flames came the source of the deafening sound. It was cattle and buffalo, hundreds of thousands of them. Mixed breeds of cows, longhorns with their dangerous horns, and massive buffaloes the size of which sheβd never seen before. They all rushed away from the red-hot evil nipping at their heels.
Sarah watched helplessly as the animals all vied for escape, but suddenly wires sprang up before them. Barbed wire and tall fencing, just the sort the cattleman used to mark their land. The animals had no way to escape. The fire ran at them from the rear and the wire halted their progress. It didnβt matter to the crazed animals. They pressed in and strangled the animals in the front with the deadly wire.
Sarah screamed again and again. She shouted and yelled at the beasts to stop their stampede, but there was nowhere else for them to turn. The white manβs wire blocked their only route of escape. Thousands of animals trampled one another as still more were cut to shreds by the razor-sharp wire. Sarah could do no more than weep at the sight, crumpling to the ground in her fatigue and anguish.
When she looked up again, the Clan surrounded the dying animals. Now the cattle were all gone and only the scores of buffalo remained, huge beasts that lowed, snorted, and tore at the ground in their anger and frustration. Soon, even they succumbed, trampled underneath their brothersβ hooves.
Sarah saw Tima and the others of the Clan that she had grown to love so well. She thought that perhaps they would help her save the animals. It soon became apparent that the Chahta had no knowledge of how to save the buffalo. The great beasts supported the people of the Clan, but the Chahta could not undo the white manβs power.
Sarah watched and with every buffalo that fell, a member of the Clan disappeared in the mist that surrounded them. She felt a voice inside her head again, but this time it wasnβt Keeho. The voice told her that once the buffalo were gone, the Chahta people would pass away also.
"No!" Sarah screamed out when, one by one, the buffalo dropped to the ground.
"Help us, Sakli." Tima raised one hand to Sarah as the white mist engulfed her body.
"No!" Sarah screamed one last time.
She thought she had already been lying on the ground, but how could that be, she wondered, as her legs crumpled underneath her. The last thing she remembered was the feel of the moist earth below her cheek and the oppressive heat as the flames swallowed her.