Kindled Love: Men of the Heart, #1

Prologue

Hatfield Preparatory Academy- 1848

The little girl bounced the ball a few times before stopping to straighten the bow in her hair. Her mommy had told her to be sure she didn’t lose it, so she was checking it every few moments.

She felt herself roughly shoved off balance. She fell forward and hit the ground hard, skidding her right knee on the rough ground. She looked up as the ball roll away slowly.

A large boy walked past, I didn’t tell you that you could play, he sneered. He grabbed the ball, grinning defiantly.

She felt hot tears welling up at the corner of her eyes. Her knee hurt and felt like she skinned it. I had it first, Phineas!

Phineas looked down at her contemptuously, And now I have it, what are you gonna do about it?

Give it back!

She turned at the low voice; two boys were standing off to her right, the smaller one was glaring at Phineas, his hands clenched tightly at his side. I’m not telling you again... The boy spoke low and menacing. He couldn’t have been more than ten years old, and much smaller than the teenage Phineas. She recognized the brothers, Billy and Joey. They were newer students; their father was in the Army and had just moved here a few weeks ago.

Oh look, it’s the general’s kids. What are you going to do? Call the Army? Phineas turned to walk away.

Billy, the smaller boy, flashed past her tackling Phineas to the ground. Phineas attempted to fight back, but the small boy was fighting with ferocity. He pinned Phineas down and pummeled him in the face, until several teachers finally pulled him off.

As they led him back toward the school, Joey stepped forward, helping her to her feet. I think he wanted you to have this, he said simply, as he handed her the ball. He then started to follow the rest of them to the school.

She watched them go with a small smile on her face. 

MAJOR GENERAL DAVID Stone marched down the school hallway, irritated that his work had been interrupted by the messenger. The school had told him his presence was urgently needed.

He passed a nurse assisting a young man down the hallway. The boy’s face was battered and bleeding; blood had covered the front of his shirt as well. General Stone rolled his eyes as he passed; the kid was sobbing about his injuries. He shook his head as he continued down the hall. He wondered if they were training future adults, or future sissies at this school.

Entering the office, he took in the scene in one glance. The principal was across the room speaking to some upset parents, and young William sat in a chair to the side, ramrod straight, with his hands in his lap. General Stone immediately noticed the skinned knuckles and deduced the rest. A grim smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

He interrupted the group, feigning ignorance as he demanded, Why have I been called away from urgent business?

The principal pardoned himself and rushed over, apologetic, I am so sorry, General Stone, but we have a situation. It seems that your William has gotten himself into a scuffle with another student...

My William? A scuffle? He looked over at William who was watching him intently. Snapping his fingers, General Stone barked, Front and center!

William jumped up and sped across the room, coming to attention in front of his father, Sir!

Were you in a scuffle?

Yes sir. William answered simply.

Why?

General Stone... The principal interrupted, It does not matter why... he trailed off as General Stone glared at him.

It absolutely does matter why, and do not interrupt me again you insolent ninny. He continued to glare, using the annoyed look that he reserved for spineless windbags, until the principal backed off and remained quiet.

Sir... William spoke quietly, The boy pushed a little girl down, and hurt her.

General Stone looked quickly at his son and nodded slightly. He trusted William absolutely and knew he wouldn’t lie. He turned back to the principal, And this is a problem?

The principal sputtered, That... He... We are the ones who decide the punishment for infractions. We cannot allow common vigilantism to reign in this school...

General Stone silenced him with a curt wave of his hand, Fine then, how was the other boy punished?

The principal stared, wide eyed. He... uh, was injured, rather severely, so we did not...

So, what you are saying is that you consider my son’s punishment of him enough?

Well, not exactly...

So, he will be punished more?

No...

Exactly. The general turned back to William, Where is your brother?

In class, sir. He answered briefly.

Get him, and let’s go. I will be outside waiting. General Stone turned to the principal, I will not have my sons being taught by a group of self-righteous pacifists. I will give you three days to return the balance of the year’s tuition I paid.

With that, General Stone turned and marched out of the office.

SO WHY DID YOU DO IT?

William looked over at his brother as they walked toward the carriage. No reason.

Liar. Joe said with a smile, I saw the way you’ve been looking at her the last few weeks.

William shrugged, noncommittally. I may have noticed her.

Seriously?

William grinned at his brother as they reached the carriage. One day, I’m going to marry her...

Chapter 1

William scanned the horizon as he topped out over the small rise.

Nothing...

His stomach growled, reminding him that he needed to eat. He tugged the reins and pulled up, considering his options. He had some jerky left in his saddlebags, but he had been eating jerky for the past week.

He wanted something else.

Sighing, he made a clicking noise and flapped the reins, signaling his horse to move down the small hill.

He had been riding for weeks; camping at night and moving in the day. It was starting to get cold in the mornings now though, making it a tad harder to get moving. He smiled to himself, that and he had run out of coffee last week.

He could go home, but that wasn’t really an option in his mind. He didn’t care if he was broke and starving, he wasn’t going back there.

He smiled at that thought; he was close to broke and starving now. He had two silver dollars left in his money belt, and about a half pound of jerky from the deer he had shot using his last rifle cartridge. He had a dozen rounds for his pistol, but he would have to be really close to a deer for that to work.

He huffed out a quiet laugh; that reminded him of his real problem, he needed work. He had been working his way back and forth across the country for a few years; a few months on the barges as a deck hand, then a month on a farm, a few weeks picking oranges in California... he had even spent a winter as Sheriff in a lonely cow town in Texas. His last few jobs were punching cows... he never stayed in one place very long; he just kept drifting.

That way he could keep to himself, which is what he preferred to do.

Sighing, he looked around. This was beautiful country he was passing through. He was going to have to do something this winter... he might have to consider staying in this area.

He had never been much of an outdoor person as a child; that had been his brother, Joe. Joe had always been the one to sneak out and sleep under the stars, do the adventurous things, while he was happy to hide inside the house and sleep on a quilted bed in a room with heat.

William smiled at the memories. He missed his brother. Joe would certainly make fun of him for this; starving on the back of a horse, in the middle of nowhere.

He looked around again. This was definitely the middle of nowhere. He had no idea where he was for certain. He had passed the Sierra Madre Mountains a few days ago; at least, that is what the wizened old ranch hand he had met told him they were called.

For now, he was just following the sun... kind of.

Smiling, he remembered the long conversation he had with the old ranch hand when he had used that term.

‘Following the sun?’ The man had asked, looking at him quizzically, ‘You’ll never get anywhere! If you follow it east in the morning and turn around at noon, you’ll just get back to where you started by dark. That’s dumb.’

William had decided to stop using that phrase when talking to people after that. Life would be easier without a philosophical discussion on semantics. He was just drifting east now... not sure where he was heading for sure. When he left his family’s home in Baltimore he had drifted west, never really sure what he was looking for, and never quite finding it. He had kept drifting until he hit the ocean.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t liked the Pacific any better than the Atlantic, so he had mounted up his horse, and started heading east, eventually turning north up through Colorado and into Wyoming.

And he was still looking.

He shook off the line of thought and focused on the ride. There was a small stream at the bottom of the hill.

Pulling up, he dismounted before he reached it, leading his horse the last few feet. Draping the reins over an overhanging branch, he grabbed his canteen off the saddle horn as he let the horse drink, and then moved further upstream to drink himself.

Sated, he looked around. He was tempted to set up camp and relax for a few days. He had been on the move for too long. The last time he stopped was for that deer.

He shrugged and moved back to his horse, rubbing its ears as he unloosed the reins from the branch. He was going to have to get some supplies before he could camp out comfortably. With the weather coming in, he would probably need to build a dugout or small cabin to weather in. He had heard that it got cold up this way.

He sighed; he should probably just look for a job. If he could find something steady, something that kept him fed through the winter...

Shrugging, he mounted the horse and continued up the hill. It wasn’t like he didn’t have a skill set; but then again, work was hard to come by.

He reached the top of the hill, not even pausing as he looked around. It was still empty country, but he wasn’t worried. He knew he would eventually come across something; a town, ranch, or even a road.

He closed his eyes; the late morning sun felt good on his face, warming him through his coat. He relaxed in the saddle, swaying slightly as his horse gently moved down the hill.

The flock of birds exploded from the brush almost at the horse’s feet. He felt the horse tense, his eyes flew open and he fumbled for the saddle horn as the horse skipped sideways, reared around and spun in a tight circle. He felt himself leaving the saddle, and tried to curl into a ball as he watched the ground close in...

HE OPENED HIS EYES with a groan. The sun hadn’t changed position, so he couldn’t have been out for long. It was shining directly into his eyes,