Page 6 (1/2)

Prologue

Somewhere on Mount Louis, BC, 1889

The bare branches of the dense forest lashed out at the desperate young worasp Their sharp and painful slashes went unnoticed as she fled down the wooded ht, while above the tree tops a full low on the uneven path ahead It was dark, but not as black as she would have preferred Far too soon the sun would rise above the eastern peak and the cloak of the night would vanish

She fled ah into thea dark shroud over the already eeriethrough the thick underbrush, over fallen ti shallow, her eyes ith fear, she desperately searched the distance but could hardly loomy darkness

The cold evening air swept across her exposed skin Her ragged and muddy appearance left little in the form of attire She would have shivered from the exposure to the late autuh her veins

A batch of roots protruding froht her foot unaware Instinctively she reached out to grasp onto so the paled earth She paused only long enough to notice the trace of aniround beneath her The ars A new fear tore across her chest as she scanned the darkness

However, the forest was still The only ht of the terrified wo of her heart Any appearance of forest creatures were nowhere to be seen The terror of the mountain was all around

Without a ot back on her feet and continued her race against the night She, herself, not uttering a word or so much as a cry She would not stop to listen The importance of silence was a matter of life or death

At last she heard it The gurgling of the river broke the still night She followed the sound until she ca in the e channel, she fled along its banks

The swift running current mirrored her escape as it raced down thelouder as she neared the wild rapids where the mountain took a steep decline The woe streak across the eastern sky She turned and fled along the slope that followed the winding river down the mountain

Chapter 1

Wade Haddock woke at the crack of dawn and listened for sounds froht before was a contrary sound as it usually was during the evening when patrons packed the Call of the Wild Bar and Inn The alehouse was popular with the cowboys frolers were no exception

While either enjoying a ga as much alcohol as hue of fereatly factored into the saloon’s popularity The ladies of the saloon made it their business to keep the men of Durand County entertained And satisfied