A Land Painted With Blood (Preview)

Chapter One

Russell Gulch, Colorado, February 1861

Love was a rare opportunity. It wasn’t something that happened every day. Sometimes, it was a lot like nurturing a successful grain crop. It took time, patience, and diligence to cultivate a flourishing relationship. Natural elements weighed heavy. Paying attention to the details meant to anticipate when love, like harvests, needed irrigation and sunshine. Yet, the weathering of love came with promises of a new outlook on the future. And sometimes, after all the cultivation and effort, when it came time to harvesting that love, one had to pick the perfect occasion to propose.

Theo Padgett had found someone that made him think no matter what happened in the world, as long as he had his love, he could withstand even the darkest days that loomed ahead.

“Are you sure this is what you want, son?” Miriam Padgett asked, worry lines etched across her forehead.

Theo and his parents had spent most of the morning shoveling snow away from the front doorstep to the general store.

Theo stopped scooping freshly fallen snow long enough to look at her and his father. “This is something I thought about since I was sixteen,” he said. “I’m eighteen now. I need to get out on my own. Don’t you think it’s time?” he asked.

Jefferson Padgett and his wife were some of the first four hundred settlers in Russell Gulch. Most of the other people arrived when William Greenberry Russell came to the territory in ’58 with his prospecting brothers. They were the first to find gold in the gulch, and the eponymous town sprang up around the miners to accommodate their needs, giving way to the namesake in the family’s honor.

By ’60, the townsite still had over four hundred residents, and the Padgett General Mercantile and Emporium grew from a small log cabin into a two-level clapboard-sided business that catered not only to miners but the rest of the townsfolk.

Jefferson and Miriam had a strong business sense, filling the store with necessities to keep up with demands with the current trends in footwear clothing and patent medicines. They had taught their business ethics to Theo. But as he professed interest in branching out on his own, it had more to do with his interest in a particular young lady and not the family business. Without funds, Theo couldn’t afford to make a happy life for anyone.

Snowfall in the mountains made for long stretches of winter months with no way out of the area. Over nine thousand feet above sea level, it took hardy people to breathe thin air and survive the harsh weather. It meant people depended on provisions from the general store and a man like Jefferson Padgett to extend credit to miner families that weren’t getting the same returns on their time. Gold veins dried up. The gulch gold seam and the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush that had brought people to the area were beginning to move away as the ore mining produced far fewer earnings.

“What do Priscilla’s parents have to say about your proposal?” Miriam asked. Tanya and Lee Duffy were better miners than parents in his mother’s view. But, on the other hand, Theo got much of his mother’s common sense when raising a child properly.

“I haven’t asked her father yet,” Theo said. “I wanted to talk to you both about it first.”

“Let’s finish up outside here before we start getting busy,” Jefferson said. “We can talk about this later.”

It was his father’s way of changing the subject. Theo had grown up listening to his father put off things that he didn’t want to discuss with the addendum of putting things off later. But it wasn’t in his father’s nature to put off anything. Running a successful provisions business meant they had to stay a step ahead of the weather and anticipate the needs of the miner families. Theo knew his father needed him to help with the general store, But Theo’s heart wasn’t in it because he lent it to someone else.

When the family of three finally went back inside, Theo brought in a snow-covered stack of firewood from the back to melt and dry out. Next, his mother fixed the family tea and eggs.

Jefferson began immediately auditing the ledger while Theo swept the main floor. It was a routine that bothered Theo because his parents were content to run a store in a tiny town on top of a mountain. Theo wanted more out of life. He wanted to start a family, but he felt it was essential to get his parents’ blessing.

“She’s a nice girl,” Miriam said when Theo brought up Priscilla Duffy again.

“You have more to say about her that you’re holding back,” Theo said.

Typically, they had customers arriving at the shop at that time of the morning. Likely, most people still had to shovel out their walkways before getting to the mercantile business. It gave Theo leverage because he still hadn’t convinced his parents that he meant what he intended to do.

Miriam stood facing her son in a wool coat over her apron and walking dress. She wore heavy boots that clomped on the floorboards. His mother had handsome features with an ivory-smooth complexion, saddle tan hair, and harvest-ready oat-colored eyes. Miriam had a keen disposition, with patience to explain some of the finer points of life to her son. She had her ear to the community by attending commerce meetings and gatherings of respectable women from the area. Theo knew Priscilla’s mother, Tanya, wasn’t one of those women because she worked side by side with her husband, scratching the granite and quartz for gold ore.

“You know it wasn’t easy for you, father, and I when we started,” she said. Her words had piqued his father’s interest. Jefferson looked up from the ledgers on the counter. He finished the plate of eggs and sipped coffee while he worked. She looked at Jefferson. “Your father wasn’t an easy man to get to know at first.”

“Your mother had a certain charm that took hold of me,” Jefferson said in defense. Then, he elaborated with, “We had to work on our marriage as most people do.”

“You were younger than me now,” Theo said. “And if I’ve done my arithmetic correctly, you were fifteen, and Mother was fourteen when—”

“Yes, yes,” Jefferson said. “I understand what you’re saying, Theo. But times have changed. We live in a society that frowns on young marriages.”

“I’m eighteen, Father. Priscilla is seventeen. We’re in love. You should be happy for us and give us your marriage blessing,” Theo said.

Jefferson’s face squeezed tight like Theo’s words wounded him. Miriam’s worry lines increased. His mother had a habit of straightening items on shelves when she didn’t like specific conversation topics. She did it with customers if they had overstayed their welcome. Theo watched his mother begin rearranging the burlap bags of dry goods on the shelving unit. She used a handkerchief to dust the counter.

“Marriage is a heady pursuit,” Jefferson said when Miriam concentrated on the shelf organization. “It’s never easy.”

“But, we’re in love,” Theo said. “I expected your happiness for me.”

“We are happy you found someone that makes you feel something wonderful,” Miriam said, finally giving up on ignoring her son. “But marriage is so much more than what love brings.”

“It’s like this business,” Jefferson added. “Look around you. This didn’t happen by itself. It took your mother and me a long time to build this trade and make it profitable.” He waved his hand in the air. “Love doesn’t factor into how we live our lives every day. It takes dedication and hard work.”

“You’re comparing your marriage to running a business,” Theo said. He looked at his mother. “You were pregnant with me, and Father got lucky that grandfather had enough funds to get the supplies needed to start the family business.” He shook his head. “I’m not asking for money. I don’t need a dowry for Priscilla’s hand. All I wanted was your confidence that I am doing the right thing.”

Miriam watched Theo for a long time, seeing the frustration. She hadn’t made any elusive comments about her feelings toward Priscilla or her parents. Theo knew people viewed them with the same filter as other miners. Prospecting took its toll on bodies and minds. It wore down people. It wasn’t a labor of love but necessity. Claims were gambling debts that were sometimes never paid off. So unless they were lucky, most independent miners sold their shares early and went to work for someone else.

Lee Duffy was a stubborn man, but he didn’t stand out in the community as a gruff drunkard or curmudgeon. Russell Gulch had its share of miners that fitted those traits. Lee drank but not to access. Theo had dined with the family enough to know Priscilla’s father expected anyone who courted his daughter to become a part of the family and take up the pickax to help fill the coffers with gold dust instead of broken dreams of pulling their wealth from the earth.

“You want me to stay here and keep the doors open,” Theo said. “I understand that.”

“What does Priscilla want?” Jefferson asked. “What is it that she expects out of your courtship aside from your hand in marriage?”

Theo felt a cold snap in his heart. His father had posed a valid question. “We haven’t discussed it.”

“Discussed what?” Miriam asked. “You haven’t discussed marriage?”

“I — I wanted to talk it over with you both before I asked for her hand from her father.”

“Theodore, it doesn’t work like that,” Miriam said. She left the aisle shelves and walked to where Theo stood by the hearth. “You profess your love for this girl, but does she know how you feel about her?”

Theo hesitated to answer. He believed in love. It was a profound and enlightening experience that captured his heart and imagination.

“Don’t you think it would be a good idea to discuss marriage with Priscilla before you go and surprise her by asking her father’s permission?”

“Are you giving me your blessing?” Theo asked hurriedly.

“What your mother’s saying,” Jefferson said. “You need to talk to Priscilla about marriage before talking to her father about putting a wedding band on his daughter’s finger.” He sighed and closed the ledger. It went under the front counter. “It’s no secret around here that you have interest in Priscilla.” Jefferson stepped out from behind the counter and approached Theo and his mother, standing by the stone fireplace. Jefferson had the sense to secure a stone foundation and redbrick fireplace before erecting the rest of the building. The fireplace kept the whole store and the upstairs warm where the family lived. “But it is also no secret to anyone that Priscilla is about the only fetching girl in the area. Now, I’m not saying you have a competition to win her hand. There are a few suitors Priscilla’s had since she blossomed.”

“I know that,” Theo said. He counted at least five young men who had an interest in Priscilla. Three of them had moved away over the last two years. One of them died in a mine collapse. The only other young man who still held Priscilla in high regard wasn’t worth Theo’s time.

Ezekiel van Basten had upset Priscilla too often to win her favor. At nineteen, Ezekiel had pursued more than his share of young ladies. Priscilla had been one of many. He wasn’t earnest in his convictions. Theo had undermined Ezekiel’s prospects with Priscilla when he had alluded to Ezekiel’s interest in one of the painted ladies from the Peach Bagnio. Theo had no substantial evidence for his claims, but the pursuit of love sometimes meant to spurn others to make sure he captured Priscilla’s heart.

The front door opened, chiming the brass bell hanging over it. The family turned as one to smile at the first customer of the day. Jefferson broke away from his son and wife to greet the newcomer.

Miriam touched Theo’s arm and spoke in a hushed tone. “Don’t do anything rash,” she said. “It’s best if you discuss your intentions with Priscilla before you talk to her father about your plans. Please don’t make it a surprise for both of them. You don’t know what’s in her heart.”

“She loves me, Mother.”

Miriam looked hard at Theo. “Are you certain of that? Have you asked her directly? Or is it in your heart and not in the open?”

Chapter Two

Priscilla Duffy wasn’t the only available girl in a town of four hundred people, but for Theo, she was the only girl for him. Priscilla had a complexion like the pure falling snow. She had delicate features that made Theo’s heart leap whenever he saw her. He set out to make his intentions known to the one person at the end of the day that it mattered most.

Following his forthright conversation with his parents, it occurred to Theo that courtship wasn’t complicated, but it had hurdles to overcome. Theo considered himself a learned man who got an education from parents that understood the value of reading and writing. His father was a stickler for arithmetic and made sure that Theo recognized the importance of formal learning when running a successful business.

Academics aside, Theo wanted more from his life than inheriting the family business from his parents. He got a stipend from his father for putting in hard work. But there was something else well beyond the snow berms that trapped the residents of Russell Gulch. He wanted to show Priscilla that what awaited them had more to offer than her father’s backbreaking legacy of long hours, ragged coughing fits, and nothing to show for the tenuous labor than broken fingernails and empty buckets.

Night came sooner in the winter months, and when Theo left the shop, he stomped through a worn trail in the snow that led through town. People had tamped down the snow and shoveled the drifts away from doors. A few horses and carriages paved paths that left white windrows carved in the blankets.

“Good to see you, son,” Lee Duffy said when Theo had tapped on their door that night. “Come in.”

“Thank you, Mr. Duffy,” Theo said as he closed the door behind him. When Theo went inside and kicked the snow off his boots, he expected to see the love of his life appear from the hanging portieres of burgundy.

Lee had two feelings of pride in life: his gold placer claim that he hadn’t fully excavated and his daughter. Over the two years of courting Priscilla, Theo had suffered through Lee’s long-winded tales of ‘almost’ striking it rich. The rugged weathering of Lee’s extremities had turned a once robust man in his early forties into a shell of leathery sinew that made him look sixty.

Lee sat heavily in one of the three chairs the family owned. They had a log cabin with three sections, the furthest to the rear of the rectangular house being Priscilla’s private bedroom. Theo had never set foot inside Priscilla’s bedroom, but he considered it her sacred place.

“So, Theodore, have you considered the changes happening on the east coast?” Lee asked. While he rolled a cigarette next to the iron potbelly stove, his wife stood near the stove, stirring contents inside a Crock-Pot atop the stove.

Theo smiled politely at Priscilla’s mother as she stood by the stove for warmth and necessity to watch over their dinner. Tanya was a polite but quiet woman. She wasn’t shy but knew when Lee talked politics, her husband considered it sacrosanct and off-limits to womanly points of view.

“I haven’t given it much thought, Mr. Duffy,” he said. Theo had enough sense to keep vague points when discussing the tension between northern and southern states.

“Well, I read in the Daily Richmond Whig that our great government finally raised the flag of secession with fifteen stars on it,” Lee said proudly. “You know what that means?”

It was a dangerous question to answer. Newspapers came through town once or twice a month if they were lucky. Anything with ‘daily’ in its title likely meant anything newsworthy had already passed months ago by the time it reached Colorado. They were too far from the friction between the states to receive impact in their daily lives.

Theo understood the opposition from Washington D.C. and the southern states had to do with industrialization coming head-to-head with traditionalism that meant manual labor from slavery had embittered differences.

Theo had enough common sense to understand the differences and had made up his mind immediately when given a choice. It didn’t align with Lee’s point of view. It wasn’t something the man wanted to consider at all. It frustrated Theo that a man like Duffy, who struggled daily with the help of his wife and daughter, didn’t understand the value of freedom. Lee earned a living. Blacks gained nothing and had lost everything because they were property and not considered people.

“Well, I will tell you,” Lee said as he held the cigarette in his teeth and puffed gray smoke after lighting it. “It won’t be long before those bastards in Washington heed the call of the South.”

Theo sat back and had to endure the ranting of a misguided man who got what he had in life based on the color of his skin. Theo didn’t envy Lee’s wife. He saw her occasionally wince as her husband spouted rhetoric gathered from the sedition newspapers the man coveted leading up to the secession in December of ’60. They were three months into a clashing government ideology, and Theo knew it wouldn’t end with governors and members of Congress coming together peacefully. The few tidbits of current events Theo got came from some of the same newspapers. He knew it wouldn’t end in the halls of Congress. Anyone with a sense of politics knew war brewed.

“Mrs. Duffy, is Priscilla feeling well tonight?” Theo asked.

As the woman opened her mouth, Lee spoke instead. “Priscilla’s not here this evening, Theodore.”

“Oh?” He had endured several minutes of the man’s eschewed views in order to spend time with his daughter.

“Priscilla’s spending the evening with the van Bastens,” Tanya said, finally getting a moment to talk while Lee sipped his tea.

“She didn’t mention it to me,” Theo said, his heart sinking into the deep snowdrifts.

Lee and Tanya got used to having Theo around so often that something insignificant like the absence of their daughter wasn’t something Lee brought up when he had answered the door. Theo thought it was his duty to endure the man’s insufferable rhetoric because he got to spend time with Priscilla. Theo wondered if Tanya felt the same about her husband. But expecting Priscilla to be home and learning the truth bothered Theo.

“Well, it was a spur-of-the-moment opportunity,” Tanya said, broadening the explanation. “Ezekiel came by late yesterday to request Priscilla’s presence at his parents’ house for dinner. I thought she had mentioned it to you.” The look on Tanya’s face showed Theo the same raw perplexing he felt.

“No,” he said softly. “Or maybe I forgot she brought it up.” He didn’t want Priscilla taking the blame for something he might have overlooked or didn’t hear directly.

“You’d think the snow we got today might have put off Ezekiel,” Lee said. “But he showed up here promptly at six this evening with the carriage.”

Theo nodded.

“Can I get you some stew, dear?” Tanya asked. She understood his crestfallen behavior following the announcement.

“No, thank you, ma’am,” he said.

It was a matter of making an exit that didn’t seem too hasty. Theo wanted to get out of the house as fast as possible, but he didn’t want to offend Lee as the man lit another cigarette to wax on about how change needed to happen in government if the States were to overcome the growing tension.

There was a twinkling in Tanya’s eyes that suggested she wanted to escape the town as well.

“We got a lot of snow,” she said. “Lee, dear, do you think you could shovel out the walkway to the outhouse?”

“I could do that for you, Mrs. Duffy,” Theo said, immediately standing up.

“Oh, thank you,” she said with a knowing smile.

“Yeah, there’s a spade next to the door there,” Lee said, waving his hand in the general direction. “You know, I could go help.”

Theo shoveled for the next hour while Lee continued telling him how the South could overcome the oppression from the North. Lee warned Theo that he’d see significant sweeping changes in his life. They were at a crossroads in history, and anyone with eyes could see it coming.

“I need to help my father,” Mr. Duffy,” Theo said finally. He had widened the path from the rear of the cabin to the single-slotted privy outside. He leaned the shovel against the stoop.

“You ready to take up arms when the country calls for you?” Lee asked.

Theo knew the man’s core values supported southern principles. He understood it was a loaded question. He had listened to the man’s injudicious observations for two hours before reaching saturation point. The sluice box sometimes needed emptying before it filled up again.

“Mr. Duffy, if the country calls for me to fight, I will stand on the right side of the battle,” Theo said. “We need to give all men their due, no matter the color of their skin.”

Lee looked flabbergasted standing on the cabin doorstep. The cigarette in his lips tumbled out in the gust of wind.

“Have a good night, Mr. Duffy,” Theo said before wandering off through the path in the snow.

Chapter Three

Eula and Patrick van Basten were latecomers to Russell Gulch. The family had arrived in the autumn of last year. While miners sold their claims and families began leaving the V-shaped townsite for other parts of the country, the van Bastens took over the Oak Leaf Bank and Trust. It was the nearest bank in fifty miles.

The property and business gave them a profession and a place to live. The trouble with banking, most people distrusted the financial institution, and the agrarian society didn’t see a need for corporate lending funds. So most people still living in Russell Gulch exchanged their pickaxes for timber axes, turning their claim sites into logging opportunities.

Most people in the small mining town had existed on bartering. The need for hard currency wasn’t something anyone saw a lot of in town. The local assayer’s office finally succumbed to the lack of incoming gold dust and Patrick van Basten bought the rights to deal with miners directly.

Often, when miners went to see van Basten for exchange, he’d issue a private letter as a line of credit used within the town. It meant miners had to either take the reduced exchange rate from the bank or hope Theo’s father accepted the credit voucher at face value. Patrick van Basten closed the assayer’s office that occupied space adjacent to Padgett General Mercantile and Emporium. Patrick worked out of the bank directly instead of leaving the place to walk several hundred yards across town to do business with miners.

The difficulty in dealing with an assayer that ran a bank came with the man’s frequent changes in value. Gold dust was subject to set rates. Without regulatory agencies nearby like assayers had in Denver, much was subject to van Basten’s determining the purity of gold. He gave a rate that he thought generous, even if it wasn’t fair.

Anyone who had heavy hauls of gold took it elsewhere. Sometimes, when a miner got a chunk of rock worth anything, they packed up the family and left town. Dealing with van Basten came with promissory notes instead of banknotes.

Theo’s father and Patrick van Basten both dealt with customers and credit. The mercantile establishment worked because Jefferson knew how to extend credit when customers took losses at the bank. Most people in town understood Jefferson’s business depended on account balancing. Periodically, when Jefferson got word of people thinking about leaving town, he did his best to firmly remind them of their commitment to commerce.

Sometimes, to pay the balance, they had to get a line of credit from Oak Leaf Bank and Trust. If Patrick accepted the customer, he immediately gained access to people’s homes to access and collect valuable items. Physical banknotes and coins rarely passed over the counter at the bank. Mostly it was handshakes and trinkets.

A few times a year, Patrick sent his son, Ezekiel, with wagonloads of other people’s property. He went to exchange assets for cash or bonds from the dealers and banks in Denver, thirty-six miles from Russell Gulch. Ezekiel always returned with more goods and supplies the family used instead of directly purchasing from Padgett General Mercantile and Emporium.

Theo had learned that the son was as dubious as the father. Ezekiel purchased out-of-date newspapers for anyone who wanted to buy them. They carried the papers for sale at the bank. Lee Duffy was a regular customer. Rumor had it that Patrick underbid on all gold dust exchanged at the bank. Ezekiel got better rates in Denver.

Theo didn’t like Ezekiel or his father. It wasn’t only the way they had an air of indifference to the plight of the miner. It wasn’t because Patrick looked down on Jefferson and the store. It wasn’t only because Ezekiel was a handsome young man who lived in his father’s shadow. Instead, it had to do with Ezekiel’s glib attitude when it came to the courtship of Priscilla Duffy.

So, when Theo made the long trek through the drifting snow to the bank, he couldn’t see Priscilla or Ezekiel or even Eula and Patrick. All he saw standing in the snow looking up at the second-floor apartment above the bank were the lantern lights near the windows.

His faithful love had accepted a dinner invitation from the son of the wealthiest man in town. Theo experienced something he didn’t know was possible: jealousy. How long was he supposed to stand in the snow staring up at the windows? Was he supposed to fight for Priscilla’s hand? None of his options seemed very easy over the years. They were together often. Theo and Priscilla spent a considerable amount of time together. He shared ideas and dreams with her. He listened to Priscilla’s thoughts of the future. One thing Theo had overlooked was the notion that someone else might win the hand of the only girl he had ever loved.

In the last two years of courting Priscilla, it occurred to Theo that he had neglected to share his true feelings with her. Sulking and chilled to the bone, Theo meandered back to his home, where his parents saw the sullenness of their son.

As Theo shed his wool coat, hat, and boots, his mother fetched him a cup of tea. His father looked up from a book by the hearth. The man stared at his son from over the hardcover as Theo sat down to warm himself by the fire.

“She isn’t the only girl in the world, son,” Jefferson said. “You don’t need to settle with a girl who doesn’t see your good qualities.”

Theo glared at his father. He took the cup from his mother before she sat down. “I often wondered if Priscilla’s heart was ever fully given over to you.” She patted her son’s knee. “Marriage sometimes takes as much hard work as running the store.”

“What are you both talking about?” Theo asked.

His parents shared a look between them like they had overstepped their bounds. “We assumed you spoke to her parents, and Mr. Duffy declined your offer,” Jefferson said.

Theo set the cup on the small end table. He rubbed his hands together. Staring at the fire, Theo shook his head. “I went over there to ask her father. I meant to do it. But when I got there, all he wanted to talk about was the secession—”

“Oh yes, that is terrible news,” Miriam said, interrupting Theo. As he stared at his mother, Jefferson touched his wife’s shoulder. “I apologize, dear. What were you saying?”

“Priscilla wasn’t home,” he said. “I spent over an hour there listening to her father, and they casually overlooked the fact that Priscilla had a dinner invitation with the van Bastens. So instead, she was with Ezekiel.”

His parents shared another look between them while Theo took a sip of bitter tea. Loose-leaf tea floated on the surface. He picked debris off his tongue.

“You act as though that doesn’t surprise you,” Theo said.

“Theodore, you’re young. You have a whole fruitful life ahead of you. I don’t want you to worry about settling down with a girl just yet,” his mother said. She hadn’t spoken to him with such directness before that moment. “Your father and I want the best for you, but you seem fixated on a girl who doesn’t feel the same about you as you do for her.”

“Why would you say that?” Theo asked. He stood facing his parents. “You make baseless assumptions.”

“Listen to your mother,” Jefferson said. “She knows more than you realize.”

“What is it that you know?” he asked with bitterness.

Miriam sighed and pursed her lips, looking up at Theo. She reached for his hand. “Please, son, sit down.”

Theo didn’t take his mother’s hand, and after a few seconds, he returned to the seat and the tart tea.

“We know how you feel about Priscilla. I know how you pine away for her. But you must understand that sometimes life doesn’t hand you something so simply.” Miriam looked at the fire as if searching for courage or inspiration. “Tanya came into the shop a few weeks ago. You and Jefferson were dealing with the last load of barbed wire for the season—”

“That’s all going to rust before spring,” Jefferson said. “I knew that shipment came in too late. Remember when I said that? Oh, I’m sorry,” he said after seeing his wife’s glower.

“Tanya had mentioned to me that Priscilla took a shine to Ezekiel. The young man made himself available to her whenever he knew you weren’t around.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Theo asked, feeling flush with betrayal.

“Well, now, you realize you haven’t been entirely forthright with Priscilla or us,” Jefferson said. “If you didn’t make your intentions plain to her, how is she supposed to feel?”

“So, you knew about this too?” Theo asked.

“Well, your mother had explained it to me.”

“You never told Priscilla how you feel, Theodore. So what were we supposed to think?” Miriam asked. “Infatuation isn’t love. The two of you were more like siblings than anything else.”

“I don’t believe that’s true,” Jefferson said hurriedly when he saw Theo frowning. “But your relationship with Priscilla appeared more platonic than special.”

“Jeffery, you’re not helping,” Miriam said. “Tanya alluded to Priscilla’s interest in Ezekiel. It’s subtle, and since I see her less and less in the store, I got to wondering myself.”

It felt like a cold knife had slipped between his ribs and pierced his heart.

“Your friendship with the girl is strong, Theodore. Love isn’t a fleeting thing when it’s meant to be,” she said. “Priscilla will always cherish you.” Miriam looked at Jefferson. “Your father and I had to work to make our marriage strong. Some people don’t have the luxury to find true happiness. Some women don’t have it as easy as Priscilla.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Theo sank back in the chair.

“This self-defeat will not help matters,” Jefferson said. “Devotion is one thing, but if you plan to go forward with your intentions, you might want to tell her how you feel. Don’t assume she knows it. She might be waiting around for years, hoping you finally got up the courage.”

“But earlier, I felt like you and Mother were against me asking for her hand in marriage.”

Jefferson appeared caught off guard, like he had trapped his tongue in his teeth while Miriam stared at him.

“You’re growing up so fast,” Miriam said. “We want what’s best—”

“You’ve said that before. But what if Priscilla is what’s best for me,” Theo said.

“Then you must talk with her,” she said. “You must bring it all out in the open. Perhaps Priscilla has the impression that since you haven’t asked for her hand, you weren’t going to do it all. A girl can only wait so long.”

“But that was always my intention. I’ve thought about marriage since I was sixteen.”

“And yet, here you are alone,” Jefferson said.

“Don’t be cruel, Jeffery.” Miriam gave Theo one of those looks that suggested she knew secrets of the world but wasn’t allowed to share them with him. “Interestingly, did you know Lillie Avery has a niece that is your age?”

“I don’t see how that is supposed to make me feel better,” Theo said. He didn’t want to think about anyone else except Priscilla.

“Well, your father and I invited Lillie and her niece, Delia, to dinner after Sunday services. I believe it would be good of you to make yourself available. Also, it would do you good to stretch your wings.”

“She is a handsome young lady,” Jefferson said. “A little covetousness would do Priscilla good too.”

“Jefferson, you’re not helping.”

But it was a great help to Theo. Giving Priscilla the perception of an ultimatum could spark her interest anew. If she saw Theo as nothing more than a close friend, perhaps seeing Theo with another girl would give Priscilla the same uncomfortable feelings.

“In the meantime, talk to Priscilla,” Miriam said. “If she feels for you as you do for her, then you will know. It is best not to let things linger too long.”

“What about Ezekiel?” Theo asked

“What about him? You’re a better man than that sniveling little bastard.”

“Jefferson Archer Padgett, I will not have that language in my house,” Miriam said.

But Theo saw the corner of his mother’s lips had turned up before she scolded her husband for cussing. He felt the humor leaking into the room.

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“A Land Painted with Blood” is an Amazon Best-Selling novel, check it out here!

Theo Padget has one goal in his life: to marry Priscilla, the only girl he has ever truly loved. Everything crashes down though, the fateful night he sees the girl of his dreams lying dead in the falling snow. Even worse, when Theo tries to capture Priscilla’s ruthless murderer, he is attacked and almost dies… Soon the young man wakes up to find himself in a terrible predicament, as everyone in town is convinced he murdered the unfortunate girl.

Will Theo manage to prove his innocence and take his life back, even if he has to fight with the devil himself?

Fourteen years have passed, and Theo’s a changed man, hardened by war and disgraced. His luck finally changes the night he will rescue Delia, a woman from his past who is in grave danger. When Theo decides to do something that the marshals failed to do, Delia will have the option to turn her back on him or pursue him into the unknown for the sake of love…

Will Theo manage to defeat the thing that has been haunting him all these years?

Theo is still chasing after ghosts of the past, but this time he’s not alone. However, everything leads him down a dark and dangerous road from which he might not come out alive… Will Theo manage to serve justice and protect his loved ones at the same time? Or will they succumb to the same fate that stole Theo’s first love?

A pulse-pounding drama, which will make you turn the pages with bated breath until the very last word. A must-read for fans of Western action and romance.

“A Land Painted with Blood” is a historical adventure novel of approximately 60,000 words. No cliffhangers, only pure unadulterated action.

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