The Bet
Daisy looked at her cards. She stared at the handsome man across the table from her. He smiled in response, revealing nothing. "Two cards," she said, tossing two cards onto...
Squawman
Lee ducked his head, peeking under a low-hanging branch at the Apache squaw bathing in the river. Normally he left the Apaches strictly alone, they were the fiercest warriors and...
Three Sisters
Matthew Harbor pulled his roan to a halt at the top of the small hill overlooking a storybook like farm. The gray house, bright red barn, and white picket fence...
Seminole
"Are you sure this is the right way?" Dina asked for the tenth time. The old man's directions seemed easy, follow the salt water lake until it ended in a...
One Step From Hell, Addel
Ransom Miller paddled his fur-ladened canoe around a bend in the Missouri. The river was too wide and too slow to worry about rapids, and sand bars were no problem...
Oakdale
Thunder Rumbled in the distance. It's echoes seemed to bounce endlessly. Lightning struck once, then flashed three more times in quick succession. Those in the mansion felt it was a...
Mountain Man
Clouds blew shadows over the white, brightly decorated teepees of a large Souix village. Children played in the center of the village. More children played in the nearby river. Women...
Madge’s Decision
Madge Cargon sat looking down at her dead husband. The grief in her heart barely showed in her bloodshot eyes. As if in a trance she looked up at the...
Kidnapped
Jim Sutton gazed over the dry hump of dirt, down at the confusion below. Four men, Mexican bandits by the look of them, were having their way with a slender...
Jenny White Feather
Author: Western Circa: 6 December 1866 one year after the end of the Civil War. The Indian wars were not as dynamic as the penny novels would have people believe,...
Handyman Voyeur
"I hope this will suffice, Mr. Appleton," Raybeth Carson said, as she stood by the door and pointed inside. "I would appreciate it if you would hang up your gun,"...
Five Card Stud
Nancy Matten came awake as the red light above her door began flashing in time with a subtle beeping sound issuing from her ceiling. She sat up and yawned, stretching...
Elani’s Freedom
A tattered wooden ship under full sail smashed through 14 foot waves. Mist and white water deluged the weathered decks. Three sailors scurried up the main mast to trim the...
El Diablo De Morella
Roberto Sanchez craned his neck as he passed a quaint old motel. It had once been fabulous in days long past. Roberto pinched his lips as he tried to decide....
Dede’s War
Author: Western A desert breeze blew in through the open doors of the hacienda. The water ola swung gently beneath the cool, shaded porch. Sparrows, nesting in the nearby adobe...
Damsel In Distress
Author: Western Mat Archer guided his appaloosa carefully down the trail until he entered a small natural clearing. He stopped and surveyed the ranch below. It was a typical, if...
Captive
Author: Western Falling Water paused with his hatchet upheld. He looked around the wagon train at the dead and dying. He saw the sides of a wagon move and realized...
Billy’s Dilemma
Author: Western Trace chains rattled musically as the wagons plodded forward. The squeak of badly greased wheels, the plod of hooves, and the occasional creak of a wagon, were the...
A Hand For The Little Lady
Author: Western Marcus sat for a moment, enjoying the sound of birds in the trees, and the rustle of alder leaves in the gentle breeze. The bright colors of leaves...
A Good Deed Never Goes Unpunished
Author: Western "Ratabaugh!" an authoritative voice called from behind a dust-covered figure in a leather vest and levis. John Ratabaugh spun around with his hand on his colt. He relaxed...