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    Savage Wilderness, A Colonial Adventure
    Savage Wilderness, A Colonial Adventure
    Savage Wilderness, A Colonial Adventure
    Ebook78 pages1 hour

    Savage Wilderness, A Colonial Adventure

    By L. L. Rigsbee

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    About this ebook

    When their frontier cabin is attacked and burned by Shawnee Indians, Ralph and Rachel are separated. Rachel gives birth alone in a cave while Ralph fends off the attackers in their cabin. Rachel, thinking Ralph has been killed, sets out on a 25-mile trek through the wilderness to the nearest settlement, Fort Osage (Now Sibley, Missouri). She has a phobia about the wilderness and the beasts that live in it - including the savage Indians. Fighting a battle of her own with fear, pain, hunger and exhaustion, Rachel repeatedly gets lost.
    Ralph, wounded in the battle, is having a hard time catching up with Rachel. He is unaware that she has given birth to their son. He is concerned by the fact that she keeps getting lost, but when he discovers an Indian is stalking her, he is terrified for her.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLinda Louise Rigsbee
    Release dateJun 15, 2017
    ISBN9781370929788
    Savage Wilderness, A Colonial Adventure
    Author

    L. L. Rigsbee

    L. L. Rigsbee has been writing westerns since 1996. Born in Wichita, Kansas, Rigsbee later spent six years in the Arizona desert. An avid reader of Louis L’Amour, not surprisingly, some of his style spills into Rigsbee’s westerns. Rigsbee writes flash fiction, short stories, novellas and novels with the same attention to detail.

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      Book preview

      Savage Wilderness, A Colonial Adventure - L. L. Rigsbee

      SAVAGE WILDERNESS

      A Colonial Novella

      L. L. RIGSBEE

      Copyright 2017, L. L. Rigsbee

      Smashwords Edition

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoy this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

      Chapter One

      Rachel Kerney leaned on the hoe handle and rubbed her aching lower back. Using her apron, she mopped perspiration from her forehead and gazed enviously at Ralph's bare back. His fringed buckskin jacket, long since cast aside, lay on a stump with his blue cotton shirt. The muscles in his back flexed as he hacked at the ground with a pick. If only they had an ox, or even the horse that had disappeared a week ago. Ralph had blamed her for leaving the gate unlatched, insisting that she had been too frightened to latch it properly. She couldn't honestly deny the fear, but it hadn't stopped her from remaining long enough to make sure the leather thong was snug around the post. Fear had been her constant companion since they had moved to their homestead. The cabin in the wilderness had been Ralph's dream since the Louisiana Purchase. That had been almost twelve years ago, when he was only thirteen years old, but the dream hadn't died. He had made it sound so exciting, so romantic. At first, it was all of that, but the sounds that came from the surrounding forest were anything but romantic. In that shadowy tangle of brush lived bears, pumas, wolves, and a host of biting insects and poisonous snakes. Their nightly visits left tracks in the field, and haunted her dreams at night. They waited for her in vain beyond the perimeter of civilization that Ralph had cut for their homestead.

      It wasn't the loss of the horse that had been bothering Ralph, though. Ever since he had returned from Ft. Osage, nearly a month ago, he had been harping at her about one thing or another. Last night it had been about how their frontier home was no place for a woman and a baby. What did he expect her to do about it now? The baby was going to join them in a few weeks, whether he wanted it or not. And why the sudden change of heart? At first he had been happy about the baby.

      Her steady gaze attracted his attention and he swung around, thick dark brows hunching over brooding gray eyes.

      We've got to get this crop of winter wheat in before the rains start, he growled.

      Rachel moaned. I know, I know. Lifting the hoe again, she hacked at a clod of dirt and was rewarded with a twisting pain through her back. She dropped the hoe and grabbed at her back, moaning again.

      Ralph threw his pick to the ground and glared at her.

      Never mind, he snapped. Go back to the cabin and start supper.

      You're so kind, she snarled back at him. You try hacking at this ground while you have a fifty pound sack tied around your waist.

      His eyes flashed with spark of humor that sent no more than a wry twist to his lips.

      Fifty? It must be a mighty big baby...or a litter.

      She eyed his broad muscular chest. Well, I'm not as strong as you are, so fifty pounds for you would be like twenty-five for me.

      The humor left his eyes and he nodded.

      There's no need for flattery, I said you could go back to the cabin.

      She kicked the hoe handle and gave him a sour look

      No you didn't. You told me to get back there and fix your supper.

      He swung around and retrieved the pick. I don't have time to argue with you. Get moving. I'll have to work twice as hard if I'm going to get this part of the field done today.

      She headed for the cabin, pitching one last caustic remark over her shoulder.

      Well, I guess that means I was doing my share.

      There was no need to look back. His angry gaze was like a brooding storm that filled the air with electricity. She smiled. At least she had the last word this time.

      Lately all they seemed to do was growl at each other. Sure, they were both tired all the time, but it was more than that with Ralph. He rarely smiled anymore. He was no longer the sweet and loving man she had married. Now he was a slave master who gave little compensation for her condition.

      Again the pain coursed through her back. She had probably twisted it somehow, and she'd play the devil sleeping tonight. She paused and waited for the pain to ease before starting out again. Gingerly she stepped over the clods of broken soil. Ahead, the log cabin offered a few hours out of the late fall sun. Lately the mornings had been crisp, but by mid-day it was warm...too warm for working in the fields.

      She glanced up at the sky. It was hazy today; as if something cold lay in wait over the northern horizon. Two years of living in the wilderness had been enough to teach them about the unpredictable weather patterns along the Missouri River. Still, something was different about the air today. Maybe a cold front was moving in.

      Movement on the cliff behind the house caught her attention. A bear...or maybe a deer, it was hard to tell. She squinted at the forest shadows and thought she saw antlers. They could use the meat. She turned and called to Ralph. When he glanced up, she pointed at the cliff and imitated antlers on her head by using her hands.

      Ralph's attention immediately shifted to the cliff. He watched intently, his brows still furrowed. Was there nothing that could make him happy right now? His expression became pensive, and suddenly he stiffened.

      Get to the house - NOW! He barked.

      The urgency in his voice sent a chill up her spine. As she whirled to obey his order, she had a brief image of Ralph grabbing his shirt and jacket with one hand and the pick with the other. Even without the pick, Ralph was a formidable looking foe - nearly six foot-four and all hard-packed muscle.

      She lifted

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