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    Fury Before the Dawn
    Fury Before the Dawn
    Fury Before the Dawn
    Ebook277 pages4 hours

    Fury Before the Dawn

    By Dallas Releford

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Laurie Mitchell, a young, beautiful schoolteacher with shoulder-length light brown hair, deep brown eyes and creamy white skin, struggles to control her class in Danbury, Nebraska in the late 1800s. After marauding outlaws kill her parents, her brother and abduct her two younger sisters, she mourns her losses and tries to deal with her grief. Finally, she figures the only way she will be able to survive is to capture the outlaws one at a time and collect the reward. She plans to use the reward to rebuild her farm. Learning that the outlaws have her sisters, she decides to go after them. With a neighbor and friend, Jed Collins, who loves her and hopes to marry her at a future date, she tracks the outlaws. Her uncle, Ben Coleman, has taken a posse out to chase the outlaws warning her to leave it up to the law. Laurie ignores his advice and asks Jed to teach her everything he knows about shooting. Jed is worried when he sees the anger in her eyes, senses the hate and hostility in her heart and knows she is changing. Jed’s father was a noted gunfighter before he finally settled down and became a farmer. Laurie struggles with an obsession for justice and to rescue her sisters before she becomes like the outlaws. Love and romance awaits her in her dangerous world but will it be enough to save her from her own vendetta against the outlaws?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDallas Releford
    Release dateFeb 9, 2012
    ISBN9781465976727
    Fury Before the Dawn

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      Book preview

      Fury Before the Dawn - Dallas Releford

      Fury Before The Dawn

      A western romance-adventure story

      By:

      DALLAS RELEFORD

      Published by

      Dallas Releford at Smashwords.com

      Fury Before The Dawn

      Copyright (C) 2011 Dallas Releford

      * * * * *

      This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, places, events, organizations, areas, or locations are intended to provide a feeling of authenticity and are used in a fictitious manner. All other characters, dialogue and incidents are drawn from the author’s imagination and shouldn’t be accepted as real.

      No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without explicit permission from the author or publisher except in brief quotations used in an article or in a similar way.

      Smashwords Edition, License notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. The ebook may not be re-sold or given to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      * * * *

      Dedication

      I would like to thank my wife Sharon for her understanding while I was writing this book. She passed away on August 18, 2010. She is dearly missed.

      I would also like to thank my agent and typist, Harriet Smith and Martin Smith, my advisor and typist. Their hard work and dedication has made this book much better than it would have been without them.

      Credit is also due to my lawyer, Daniel C. Atwood and my financial advisor Ova Helton, Jr. for their sound advice.

      * * * * *

      Chapter 1

      Laurie Mitchell felt all eyes on her as she graded test papers stacked on her desk. While she busied herself at her daunting task, she occasionally glanced up to meet the curious, languid stares of the students sitting at their desks pretending to be studying the lesson she’d only assigned them an hour ago. Instinct told her that only a few of them were actually studying their assignments. The others were pretending to study. Some were watching her and waiting for her to turn her back so they could implement their normal mischief. Sensing her emotional trauma, her apparent frustration, they quickly turned their attention to their textbooks when they became aware she was watching them. Outside, the wind howled as it raged across the lonely Nebraska prairie. Her hands moved in unison with her roving, deep brown eyes as she rapidly scanned each student’s paper wondering where some of them got the answers they’d jotted down. Hadn’t she told them Monday they would have a test on Friday? Hadn’t she warned them? Now, here it was Friday and not too surprisingly, only a few of the more promising students had managed to get a passing grade. Was she failing them or were they failing her by not even trying to get their lessons? Another gust of wind pounded the wooden structure that served as the only schoolhouse in fifty miles of Danbury, Nebraska. From somewhere on the lonely prairie, she thought she heard the unmistakable roar of thunder.

      The isolation of the school meant that Laurie had to give a class of forty-five students—the worst and the best the prairie had to offer—the basic education their parents expected her to teach them. Laurie worked feverishly skimming one handwritten page after another. Many of the student’s handwriting were barely legible and some she could hardly make out at all. The school had only opened three weeks ago after a long summer vacation and already she was feeling the pain of what she’d suspected about the class when she took over teaching at the school last year. The parents had been correct when they accused the previous teacher, Mr. Clarence Fielding of not doing his job, of spending too much time talking about his past experiences as a buffalo hunter and other things not even related to his students education. She’d inherited problems he had created. Now she was paying for what he’d done with her sweat, sanity and long hours.

      It was going to be a long day. Laurie felt all hopes of a nice, quiet, peaceful day slip away and fade into the distance where she heard another roar of thunder. What would happen to her job if she failed teaching the class what they needed to know? What would happen to the children if they didn’t learn their lessons? She knew both answers, however, it was hard to admit to herself that in either case, she would be out of a job and the children would be forced to work long, hard days as laborers when they grew up. She had been looking forward to spending some time fishing on the river with Jed Collins on Saturday. However, if the class failed their tests, she’d have to spend most of the day planning a new teaching strategy and developing new tests. It was beginning to look like the children were going to ruin her day and her weekend.

      Not wanting to face another day of insurmountable problems she didn’t have time to deal with, she let her mind drift back to the day she’d received a letter from the mayor offering her the teaching job. She had wanted to be a teacher since she graduated from school, however, her parents wanted her to stay with them and help care for the farm. Laurie had felt trapped between what her parents wanted and what she had planned for her future. Her mother informed her she should find a good man, settle down and raise a family. Laurie wanted much more and getting married was something that would have to wait until she was ready. She wanted to teach and write her books and short stories. Writing was in her blood and she loved books, and furthermore, she loved teaching kids about all the wonderful things that could be found in between the covers of those books. She didn’t figure she could accomplish much with two or three screaming kids pulling at her skirts.

      She’d gratefully accepted the job. Life was hard on the prairie, especially when you worked from the dawn’s early light to after the sun disappeared over the horizon on a farm where rest and relaxation was only allowed on Sundays. On schooldays, Laurie was up by five in the morning helping her father feed the hogs, milk cows and do other farm chores before she went to teach at the school. When she came home after teaching class all day, she helped her mother cook dinner and clean the house, among other things. Only after those chores were done was she able to sit in the living room and prepare herself for the next days work at the school. Most nights she read lessons the students would be studying, graded test papers and sometimes, she wrote a few pages of a novel she was writing. Her father and mother normally read the bible or just talked. Her brother, Clarence had quit school two years ago when he was sixteen and devoted himself to helping on the farm. Her other younger sisters, Karen and Lisa attended school and was in her class. When she could spare the time, she gave them extra attention and help with their lessons. Laurie wanted them to succeed in life and have something more in their future than slopping hogs and feeding cattle. She wished she had more time to devote to all her students. The thought slipped away from her when she realized her wish was impossible.

      The thought of facing up to her responsibilities frightened her. Laurie had only worked at the school last summer. Most of her life had been spent on the farm. Facing forty hostile students had been a challenge for her. She’d almost rather face a heard of wild buffalo. Her job was more important than her personal feelings and emotions, she thought. She owed it to the children, their parents and just about everyone else to see that they got a good education. Her shy, timid demeanor had cost her in the past. However, she must put those childish feelings behind her and tend to problems the way her parents had always handled them. She had to face her obligations no matter how hard it was. They’d faced famine, weather and marauding Indians. They had overcome, and so would she. As she thought about these things, Laurie Mitchell knew she had to do her best to teach the children what they had to know. She must not let her personal feelings interfere with the performance of her duties. Smiling at the thoughts and convictions she’d just been sharing with herself, she reminded herself that she’d just matured a little bit more than she had been.

      Somehow, the thought that life was hard for most of the children in her class didn’t justify the fact they weren’t trying to learn their lessons, as they should be. They’d grown used to the sloppy and careless methods their previous instructor had used and unless she could find the courage to stand up to them and force them to do what had to be done, life would be much harder for them without an education. Without an education, the only life they would have would be one of hard physical labor, suffering and a hopelessness she’d seen too often in her twenty four years of living on the prairie. Her thoughts catapulted her to the times they went to town to get supplies, usually on a Saturday afternoon. When she saw the drunks staggering out of a bar, tumbling into a pile of manure and the blank look in their forlorn eyes, she could see the faces of her students where the drunks face was supposed to be. The thought that she had failed them and they would end up like those hopeless drunks, the scum of society, shocked and terrified her. Many times she couldn’t sleep at night just thinking about it.

      Finishing the last test paper, she tossed it on her desk and sat back in her chair staring at the students. The situation was almost hopeless. Out of all the students in her class, only six had received passing grades. Two of those students were her own sisters and they’d only passed with Laurie’s prompting and encouragement. The threat of getting a whipping from their father had encouraged them to study hard and to learn everything they could. Laurie realized her mistake. Sucking fresh air into her lungs as thunder rumbled in the distance, she sat up straight and made her decision. Her class was going to learn whether they liked it or not. Their days of taking it easy were over. She would do whatever she had to do to get the job done because it was for their benefit. She would not be blamed for their failure to work hard and learn their lessons. Realizing that she must do more than just threaten them, she knew she had to show them what happened when they failed to follow her instructions.

      Standing up, she straightened her shoulders, pulled her chin up and with a firm jaw, her eyes cold she walked to the back of the room. Taking two canes from a small barrel in a corner of the room, she checked them to make sure they weren’t broken and headed back toward the front of the classroom. She could feel every eye in the class on her as she turned to face them. Nobody whispered, tossed wads of paper at someone else or pulled anyone else’s hair. Everyone was attentive, their faces pallid and their eyes wide. Everyone knew what was coming.

      Facing them now, her anger swelled deep within her as she thought how they’d been taking her kindness for granted, using her generosity to avoid studying and how they’d made a fool out of her. Or, had she made a fool out of herself by letting them get away with their mischievous ways? Well, anyway, it was going to end as of this moment, she told herself. Assured she had their attention, she spoke. Class, when I took this job, I told you that as long as you got your lessons and did your homework, we’d get along fine. Now, it seems that you’ve taken advantage of me. I was hoping you’d take the initiative to get your lessons and pass your exams. So far, I haven’t seen any improvement. Now, I will see improvement even if I have to whip every one of you within an inch of your lives. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised to find that only six of you passed your tests today even though you had all week to prepare for the exam.

      Many of the boys squirmed in their rough seats while some found something interesting to look at through the glass windows. They simply couldn’t believe Miss Mitchell would actually carry out her threat to whip them for not studying. Why, some of them were as big, or taller than she was. She wouldn’t dare to do such a thing, and they knew it, so they ignored her warning. Laurie saw the look of disdain, resentment and contempt in their sullen faces and knew that she would have to set an example; establish her authority or back down and let them go on as they always had. Her choice was clear and she wasn’t about to back down.

      Clearing her throat as a feeling of nausea tore at her stomach sending a vile taste into her mouth, she stood her ground. Cal Slayton was the bully of the group, a troublemaker who saw education as a waste of his valuable time, a procrastinator with a purpose in mind, and her number one adversary. His only purpose in life was to slouch in his seat all day with a faraway look in his eyes, spend his time away from school by the river fishing and in general, doing nothing productive. His father had complained that the boy rarely helped out on the farm. If she could rope and brand him, she probably wouldn’t have much trouble from the rest of the class, especially the older boys. They looked up to him because they feared what he would do to them if they didn’t obey him. She’d have to conquer him before she would be able to control the rest of the children. Cal Slayton, stand up, she demanded with a stern expression on her face and a coldness in her eyes that left little doubt that she meant what she said.

      Cal Slayton slowly edged out of his seat confident the rest of the class would back him up if it came down to him having to confront the teacher. Cal stood staring up the aisle at the beautiful woman with the cane in her hand. Wondering if she’d really use the cane on him, he felt a little nervous about that possibility. He’d never fought a woman before, in fact, he’d never had a fight with anyone that was bigger than he was. Most of the kids stayed out of his way, avoided him, and he liked it that way. It was almost as if he was the teacher and Miss Mitchell was just someone that came in every day and asked them to read their assignments. However, he hardly ever read anything that she told him to read. Reading, writing and all that stuff was just pure nonsense. His father, a devout religious man who sometimes worked for the other farmers on the prairie had told him that and he agreed wholeheartedly with him.

      Cal, you’ve failed all of your tests since I’ve been here. What is wrong with you? Don’t you want to learn and make something out of yourself?

      I don’t need an education, he stammered as he slowly walked toward the front of the room while the rest of the students in the classroom had their eyes firmly fixed on him. It’s just a waste of time. Cal estimated his chances of reaching the door before she could grab him and thought they were slim. Running would surely end his days as the dominant bully in the school although he didn’t think of himself as being a bully. He was the wisest of all the children because he could do things, and knew things most of them did not know. While most of the kids worked on their parent’s farms, studied and did other things, he’d roamed the prairies, hunted, fished and spent time with a few local Indian tribes that still inhabited the area. They’d taught him things about nature and life that he could never learn from one of Miss Mitchell’s books. Despite all that he’d learned, all he’d done, he was at the mercy of a young woman he considered beautiful and charming. He dreamed about her sometimes. Her slim figure, long brown hair, deep brown eyes, creamy white skin and soft pale lips tantalized him, tortured him and made him wish he could grow up overnight. Now, he was about to take a whipping from the woman he adored, if he couldn’t talk her out of it. He felt that he could. She’d succumbed to his wishes many times before and he had got away with it.

      Well, your parents sent you here to learn. Mr. Slayton. Your parents hired me to teach you and that’s what I’m going to do. Come here, young man. Laurie knew that the time of confrontation had come and any hesitation on her part would send the wrong message not only to Cal Slayton, but to the other students as well. As Cal Slayton walked toward her, she tightened her grip on the cane and told herself that she would get through this without any problems.

      Aw, Miss Mitchell, you aren’t going to hit me with that, are you? Cal looked as if he were about to cry before she even touched him. Amazed that he could change so quickly brought a sudden feeling of victory to her and enhanced a feeling in her that she might have a little hope of controlling the children after all. Maybe she would only have to whip him in order to send a message to the rest of the class and that would be the end of it, she thought with a tinge of optimism swelling up in her. Perhaps the other children would see what happened to Cal and she wouldn’t have to make them suffer as he had. Maybe she wouldn’t have to whip him at all. She didn’t approve of violence although some of the boys didn’t seem to understand anything except the firm hand of authority, the threat of violence and constant supervision. It was clear to her that the previous teacher hadn’t maintained much control over his students and now she’d been forced to take action to control them. All too often, she’d considered controlling the boys, the troublemakers, somewhat kin to trying to control a twister ripping across the plains.

      As she reached out to take his arm, to pull him toward her, a scream erupted from one of the girls in the back of the classroom. Her scream was followed by a couple of horrified yells from two of the boys and she heard glass breaking. The first thought to enter her mind was that the students were doing something to disrupt her, to prevent her from whipping Cal, however, as she glanced up, she saw that it was something more than that. Thunder roared on the street outside. Laurie was sure it wasn’t thunder she heard. The sound of gunfire was familiar to her. As bullets whizzed through the windows sending shards of broken glass into the classroom, she wondered what was happening to cause such chaos. Bullets glanced off the side of the building and she could hear their evil penetration into the wooden walls. The old school had originally been built from sod. A few years ago, the town had replaced the old sod school with a new one built with planks and thick beams. Many of the bullets failed to penetrate the new wood saving the children from sure death.

      Even though harrowing sounds around her nearly paralyzed her, Laurie realized immediately that the children’s welfare was her responsibility. By now, the children were dropping to the floor, hiding under desks and taking refuge in corners of the room where they thought they would be safe. Outside, she could hear men yelling, guns roaring and the sounds of people screaming. Laurie knew that something terrible was happening except she didn’t know what it was. Until she could find out if they were being invaded, or if something else had happened, she had to get the children to safety. As her mind raced, her heart pounded against her ribs and her blood turned as cold as ice, she quickly thought about all the possibilities. The school was located at the edge of the small town near the river. The river crossed the main road to the west of town and ran behind the school. A small bridge on the main road allowed safe passage across the water. Large groves of cottonwoods and other trees and bushes grew near the river. The river and its accompanying undergrowth was the only sanctuary she could think of where they might be safe. Safe from what, she wondered.

      The children were yelling and screaming as the sounds of death continued unabated outside. Laurie had to yell to make her voice heard above the noise. Finally, she got their attention and dir-ected them out of the classroom and into the back room of the building where supplies were stored. Keeping low, crawling on the rough, splintery floor, they made their way out of the classroom, into the backroom and waited as Laurie peeped out through the single window in the room. The river was more than two hundred yards behind the school. Keeping her voice low and as calm as she could manage, she instructed them to run to the river and hide in the bushes on the other side of the river. The water was shallow because it was so late in the year. They could safely make their way across the wide expanse of the creek that was normally swollen in the spring and winter months without any problem. Opening the door, she stepped out on the rear step and stood watching for intruders as the children ran toward the river.

      Grabbing Cal by his shoulder as he passed her, she pulled him around and faced him. Okay, Cal, you got away without getting a whipping this time. Maybe you were lucky. Now, despite the fact that you need to be taught a lesson, I have to depend on you since you’re the oldest in the class. I want you to watch out for the other children until I can get down there with you. I have to see if I can find out what is going on. I might be able to get to the stable and get my rifle and pistols I keep in my buckboard. We may need them. Most of the men in town are out on the ranches and farms working. That means that just about the only people in town are women and old men. Maybe if the men folk hear the shooting, they’ll come running, however, we can’t depend on that. We have to be ready to take care of ourselves. Do you think you can take care of the kids and keep them safe?

      Stunned by the sudden turn of events, Cal stood

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