An Orphan’s Quest for Justice (Preview)

Prologue

The carriage rumbled along the edge of the mountain, moving slowly so as not to go over the side. The passengers cast worried looks at each other—a married couple, the Francises, with their two-year-old son Colton, and several businessmen heading to Justice Canyon.

When the coach shifted violently to the left, several small boxes fell from a shelf above the seat facing forward. One of them landed on the basket where the baby lay sleeping, but it wasn’t heavy and the child didn’t even wake up. Nevertheless, his mother snatched the box off her son and dropped it beside the basket.

She looked over her shoulder at her husband, who was seated next to her.

“John?” Her terrified expression told her husband all he needed to know.

She knew. He knew. The coach wheel had slipped over the edge. They were plummeting to the bottom of the mountain in freefall. He felt his body lifting off the seat.

“Sylvia.”

He watched, feeling almost completely numb, the realization that his death was near fogging his mind, helplessness overwhelming him, as his wife threw herself over her child. She wrapped her arms around the basket as it lifted up.

The coach tilted end over end until it crashed at the bottom of the ravine.

The baby, cushioned between his parents when the coach hit the ground below and shattered, was the only one to survive.

***

Awakened from his once-peaceful slumber, Colton crawled away from the soft body of his mother, no longer feeling her heartbeat. He pushed to his wobbly feet and looked around him. He didn’t recognize anything. Only the faces of his mother and father. The basket that had been his bed was lying on its side, the cushioning inside having fallen out and landed a few feet away. In between the basket and the cushion, Colton spotted his horse.

Drawn to the familiarity of the toy, he waddled over to it, bent down, and picked it up. He examined it and, satisfied it wasn’t injured, walked slowly back to his mother, who was lying on the ground facing his father. It looked like they were reaching out for one another.

Colton had been in between them. He remembered the warmth he’d felt when he’d woken up, even though his head and foot were hurting for some reason.

If he could get back in between his parents, he would feel safe again. They weren’t moving, but he didn’t know what else to do. Maybe they would wake up and take him home.

He inserted himself between his parents and sat there in the dirt to wait.

The sun went down and came up again without his parents waking up. Colton was getting very hungry. No matter how many times he tried to wake them up, they just wouldn’t open their eyes.

It worried him. He didn’t understand.

The sun had been up for what seemed like an eternity and still wasn’t directly overhead. Colton would have to get some food himself. Maybe there was something around him that he could eat. He needed water, too. He saw none of the familiar things he used to eat and drink anywhere around them. He climbed on top of one of the luggage trunks because it would make him higher.

Colton sat there for a while. His tummy was rumbling, and the only thing he could think of to do was cry. He didn’t look at his parents. He didn’t understand.

The sun had passed overhead and Colton had cried himself to sleep after climbing down from the trunk, going to his cushion, and dragging it to his basket. He laid on top of the cushion on the ground because he couldn’t get it into the basket. Only Mama and Papa had the strength for that.

***

The sun had almost set when three Indian scouts from a nearby village stumbled across the wreckage of the coach. They surveyed the scene with somber faces before moving through it all to search for anything of value and to check on the status of the travelers.

The oldest of the scouts found a baby sleeping on a cushion, his little face looking distressed. He knew just what do to. After raiding the coach for anything that might be useful or valuable, they set the child into the basket, the cushion underneath him and a blanket over his body but not his face.

When the child woke, he stared up at his rescuers, no tears coming to his young eyes. The scouts cooed to the child and comforted him as they moved swiftly through the woods, coming out into a field just on the outskirts of Justice Canyon, where they assumed the coach had been going.

Recent tensions between their village and the townsfolk meant they would not be welcome walking down the main street through the town of fifteen-hundred people. But the building they were heading for held no room for prejudice. It was one of the largest orphanages in the county, run by a small group of nuns who had dedicated their lives to taking care of children.

It was the perfect place to leave an orphan. They left the basket on the front stoop, slammed the knocker three times, and darted away, disappearing into the woods just as Sister Anna opened the door and looked down at the infant staring up at her from the basket.

“Well, well,” she said softly, bending over to lift the boy into her arms. “What have we here? Can you tell me your name, young man?”

“Colton,” the boy responded immediately, raising the eyebrows of the nun who held him close.

“Colton. Do you know your last name?”

The look of confusion on the child’s face answered her question.

“Well, Colton, come on inside and let’s get you something to eat. You must be very hungry after your journey.”

He nodded vehemently and Sister Anna chuckled, taking him into the orphanage and closing the door behind her.

Chapter One

It was many years later when Colton Francis sat atop his horse, surrounded by fellow US Calvary soldiers, and stared down the grassy hill at the gathering of teepees and houses below. He felt uncomfortable about this, but there was nothing he could say. He didn’t have the rank or the authority to keep the company from stampeding and invading that village. While he didn’t want to participate, he was afraid to speak up.

Colonel Farmer was riding around the area, ramping up the other men, his booming voice hitting Colton as if he was a bass drum and the colonel was the biggest drumstick imaginable. Using the term “drumstick” to describe the colonel was extremely forgiving. Colton didn’t like to use the language that described the colonel better.

He watched with disgust as the man beat the air with one fist, talking about the ruthlessness and savagery of the Indians without seeing his own reflection in the words.

Colton could hear Sister Anna in his mind, telling him the story of his arrival at the orphanage. It was Indians who had brought him. When he’d questioned how she could possibly know such a thing, she told him she’d been looking through one of the windows and spotted the Indians as they approached across the field. She had even gone so far as to get the rifle they kept on the premises in case the children needed to be protected.

She and the other nuns had practice using both pistols and rifles and had sworn a vow to protect the children, no matter what. They were vigilant ladies who treated the children of the orphanage as if they were their own. No child went without clothing, food, and love. It was the best place Colton could have grown up if he had to be taken from his parents so cruelly.

Sometimes he could picture his mother in his head. At least, he believed it was her loving face hovering over him. He had lost sight of his father long ago.

“These Injuns are the same ones that attacked Long Valley!” Colonel Farmer was shouting at his men.

Colton cringed. He didn’t believe these were the same Indians. He’d been observing the natives his entire life. Sister Anna sometimes had the children at the orphanage take food and medicine to the people in the village closest to the nunnery and orphanage, and sometimes they were visited by Indian women in need.

Colton had no prejudice against the Natives. They were, after all, on the continent first. They were being forced to make huge changes to their cultures to accommodate what had been brought by the Europeans.

He wasn’t going to speak up in their defense, though. Not against Colonel Farmer. The man already knew Colton sympathized with the Indians—he used it against Colton as often as possible.

The man was currently staring Colton down, daring him to say something about the lies he was telling. He raised his eyebrows. “What do you think of this, Francis? You got an objection?”

Colton pulled his eyebrows together, scowling whether he liked it or not. “You know I object to destroying that village down there, Colonel. There are women and children who haven’t hurt anyone. There’s no need to kill innocent people. It isn’t right.”

Colonel Farmer lifted just one of his eyebrows. “You’ve got some audacity there, mister, talking to your leader that way.”

It took everything Colton had not to scoff at the word “leader.” In his opinion, Farmer should never have been given the power he had.

“If you didn’t want me speaking my mind, you shouldn’t have asked.”

Colton couldn’t help it. He was just asking to be shot. But he was well-liked by most of the men in the unit, and if Farmer pulled a gun and shot him just because, there was a good chance of mutiny. He often spoke up for the majority, almost like a spokesman. Farmer wasn’t stupid enough not to realize that.

The colonel grunted, turning his horse away from Colton. As expected.

Colton turned his gaze to his best friend, Pete Ewing, who was sitting next to him in the saddle of his own horse. Receiving a look of what he perceived to be approval and encouragement, Colton pressed on.

“I don’t think you can justify attacking that village, Colonel. The braves that were there before are gone now. It’s nothing but women and children. You can’t go in there and slaughter them like cattle. I won’t do it. I don’t think any of us are willing to do that.”

The colonel gave him a narrow look, turning his horse back around. He let the animal wander slowly back toward Colton. “Those women are only there to produce more spawn for the savages. They must be eliminated before they keep procreating!”

Colton felt sick to his stomach. He didn’t like the way the colonel was coming toward him. The look on his face was pure evil.

“I don’t care if you want those people to live,” the colonel was growling. “I don’t care that you think they’re worthy to live upon this ground that should rightfully belong to us. This is our land now, and it’s time all of those Natives are eliminated or relegated to the places we send them.”

How did the colonel not hear the ridiculousness of what he was saying? He shook his head. He would be court-martialed and the colonel would have the other soldiers shoot him dead if he continued.

But he wasn’t going down there and destroying that village. He wasn’t going to shoot any of those women or children.

“You can’t go down there and kill those women and children,” he repeated. “It’s not right. It’s not just. You can’t do it.”

“I can and I will. In fact, you can and you will.”

Colton’s heart slammed in his chest. There was no way he could raise his gun and shoot a child. He wouldn’t even be able to aim at a child. Or at a woman. She’d have to be ready to shoot him before he would do that and none of the women in that village ever carried a weapon of any kind, much less a gun. Those women only carried babies around with them, in a sling around their shoulders or sitting in packs on their backs. Older children helped with the chores so their mamas didn’t have to do it all.

How could he possibly justify ending the life of such innocence?

Chapter Two

Twelve-year-old Colton peeked around the corner of the building. Sister Anna was with the other children, instructing them on the rules of the game they were playing. Some of the children had joined hands but others were reluctant, instead teasing Sister Anna mercilessly. 

One of the things Colton liked the most about Sister Anna was that she always acted highly annoyed but it was easy to tell she was just playing and that she thought their teasing was entertaining, maybe even fun. She wasn’t a strict person and cared deeply for all of them, making it clear from the moment they woke up until they closed their eyes to sleep at night that she would keep them safe. 

Sometimes, though, Colton felt the need to be a twelve-year-old boy. And that was just what he was doing in that moment. He grinned at his best friend, Peter Ewing, who was also twelve, just two months younger, which Colton never forgot to remind him about. 

“Come on,” he hissed, gesturing for Peter to follow, which he did. 

They left Sister Anna and the group of playing children behind with a specific duty in mind. They were going to build a treehouse. Peter had helped him snag almost ten boards from the storage building after the men finished building the new outhouse—“almost” ten because one of the boards wasn’t quite as long as the others. 

It was Peter’s idea to tie the boards together and sling them on their backs. Their hammers and a handful of nails filled each of their pockets. They’d already picked out the perfect place for the treehouse. Colton was better with a hammer than Peter but that was okay. Colton didn’t mind doing most of the work or going behind Peter to fix something he’d messed up. He was a little worried Peter would split the wood instead of carefully putting the nail through it. They also only had a handful of the long nails that would be sure to go through the board and into the tree. He didn’t want to be climbing up the wooden rungs and have one of them snap off. 

It was just a first attempt, anyway. If they didn’t have enough wood or nails, they’d come back another time. The biggest stress Colton had on his shoulders was Sister Anna discovering they were gone and getting worried. They weren’t supposed to go off on their own, and they weren’t supposed to be building a treehouse either. 

Sister Melody had told them it was bad to put nails in trees because they were living things and it did them damage, but Colton didn’t agree with that. Trees didn’t feel pain and didn’t have brains to be angry or sad about having nails pounded into their trunks. Besides, it would be fun to get up to the top of some of those old oaks in the meadow behind the orphanage. There were four of them that stretched their branches high into the sky, touching the clouds.

He wanted to touch those clouds, too.

With any luck, he and Peter would be doing just that by the end of it all.

“How long you think we really got, Colt?” Peter asked, slinking along as if he was better hidden that way. There was no way Sister Anna could see them now. She was all the way on the other side of the whole building. 

The orphanage was huge, three stories tall and spread wide from one side to the other. The portion to the right of the front door was dedicated to entertainment. There were two large rooms, one where they were allowed to hold plays and big enough for everyone in the whole orphanage to gather, along with guests, to watch those plays. The other two were just big enough for a large group of people and were usually filled with round tables, four chairs each, and were full of games and toys.

Colton felt a jolt of anxiety. It happened sometimes when he was disobeying Sister Anna. She had always taken such good care of him. 

The boys got to the tree they’d chosen for the house about five minutes later. The first thing Peter did was drop his load of boards, leap up into the air, and catch one of the lower-hanging branches with both hands. It was thick but it swayed down slightly with his weight added. Seeing that it would support him, as it always had in the past, Peter lifted both legs and wrapped them around the tree limb.

Colton took the discarded load of boards from where Peter had dropped them and dragged them closer to the trunk. He removed the hammer from the loop where it was held to his waist and took a nail from his pocket. 

“I’m gonna get started. You keep actin’ like a monkey. Ya already look like one anyway.” 

He grinned over at his friend, who looped one arm and made sounds like a cackling monkey as he scratched his side. It made Colton laugh so he wasn’t able to immediately hammer the nail into the tree.

“You said you were gonna help. No fair makin’ me do it all.”

“Bah!” Peter burst out with the word, which also struck Colton as funny, so he continued laughing. “I don’t wanna nail them boards in. You remember what happened last time—I almost nailed my hand to that other board!”

“Yeah, I remember,” Colton replied, focusing on the board and the nail and giving it a good swat with the hammer. It embedded correctly and deeply into the board and the tree. “It ain’t that hard, you know. I’ve been doing this just as long as you. I don’t know why you have such tro—” 

Colton wasn’t able to finish his sentence. A loud cracking sound filled the air, cutting his words off. He looked over to see Peter had jumped to limb that was higher than the one he’d been on originally. Unfortunately, the second one wasn’t as strong as the first and it split almost as soon as Peter’s full weight was on it. 

Peter fell like a stone, his body slamming into the ground like he’d been thrown from a great height. Why had his friend had hit so hard? In the next moment, he was right by Peter’s side, grabbing at him. 

“Hey! Hey! You dead? Are you dead?” He grabbed Peter’s arm and turned him over. As soon as he did, Peter screamed in pain. “Oh, thank God, thank God, you’re alive. You stay here. I’m gonna get Sister Anna. Okay?” 

“I don’t wanna be alone!”

Peter sounded like he was about to cry. Colton’s heart wrenched at the sight of his injured friend. “Okay. Okay.” He thought quickly. If he moved Peter the wrong way, it might hurt him more. It seemed his arm was broken, but that appeared to be the only problem, other than a bleed from somewhere under Peter’s hair. “Can you get up? Can you run with me?”

“Yeah, yeah, I… I think I can.” He cried out as he took Colton’s extended hand and pulled to his feet. 

The next moment, Peter’s good arm was wrapped around Colton’s shoulders and the boys were running almost in sync to the big building, Colton screaming for Sister Anna. He didn’t think about how much trouble they were going to be in. He just wanted Peter to be okay. 

Chapter Three

“I can’t go down there with them, Pete,” Colton said, narrowing his eyes at his friend. They’d signed up together and were fighting together, side by side, through the war against the Indians. It was just by chance that the two of them happened to be assigned to the colonel.

If he had his way, the colonel would have been relieved of duty a long time ago. But as Colton was constantly reminded, he wasn’t in charge.

“I know, buddy,” Pete replied in a low voice. He wasn’t keen on killing women and children either. “What are we gonna do? We go AWOL, they’re gonna shoot us as deserters. This wasn’t what I signed up for. Thought we’d be killin’ enemies with their guns pointed at us—not little sprouts and their mamas.”

Colton nodded, keeping his eyes on the colonel. “Look at him. You’d think he was goin’ to a party or somethin’.”

He was only telling the truth. Colonel Farmer looked absolutely delighted with himself. He was preparing to surround the village and ambush them from all sides. There were no men there to defend those women, no one to keep them safe.

The colonel split up his men, giving the smaller groups instructions on where they would attack from, which side they were to occupy, and where they would meet in the middle of the village after all the people were exterminated. His mind moved back to his earlier thoughts and what he’d said to Farmer. He’d told him there were no braves there, that the community was made up of women and children.

The colonel was a smart man, but the Indians weren’t a stupid bunch, either. In fact, they were smarter than Colonel Farmer. Colton was absolutely sure of that.

Which meant they wouldn’t leave women and children without some kind of protection. The chief was likely there, too. They wouldn’t leave these important people unguarded.

Colton opened his mouth, a rush of adrenaline sweeping through him and making his skin tingle. The words of warning didn’t come out. What if there was no reason to warn the colonel? He might actually get in trouble for saying something. Farmer would accuse him of creating trouble, trying to call the whole thing off.

And Farmer would attack that village no matter what Colton said.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t warn the others in the unit, the ones who agreed with him about Farmer’s uncontrollable behavior. They could be on the lookout for female warriors or scouts that had stayed behind.

Maybe their unit was being watched.

Colton turned in his saddle, looking around him in a circle, peering through the trees and brush. He saw no movement out there other than a few critters and the breeze blowing through the leaves. He could also hear water bubbling and smell the moisture in the air from a nearby stream. They’d filled their canteens from that fresh water, and he’d been surprised by how sweet the water had tasted.

Colton turned his eyes to the front again, staring at the colonel. They were preparing to attack. Just a few more minutes and everyone would take their places.

“Pete,” he said in a low voice.

His friend turned in his saddle, his brown eyes piercing Colton’s.

“What?” he responded in the same tone, and Colton gestured with his head that Pete should come closer.

“Listen,” he said when Pete was close enough for him to speak without anyone else hearing his words, “I don’t believe that village is actually unguarded. These tribes don’t abandon their women and children to whatever fate befalls them. Family means everything to them. Their tribe means everything. They would have left behind some warriors, some braves, even female ones.”

Pete nodded, a look of concern reaching his eyes, which he flipped toward the ledge they would be going over to get down to the village. “Yeah, I think you’re right. You gonna tell Farmer?”

“Nah, he wouldn’t believe me. And he wouldn’t care even if he did.”

“What do you wanna do, then?”

“We’re gonna hang back here when everyone goes where they’re supposed to go. You go tell Jack and Kurt and I’ll tell Earl and Finn. Okay? If you think of anyone else who needs to be warned to be on their guard, tell ‘em.”

“I think everyone is gonna be on their guard even if they don’t think there’s any warriors in the village.” Pete sounded confident but nodded as he rode off in Jack and Kurt’s direction. Those two would be attacking the village from the northeast side and would need to head out soon so they could all attack at the same time. Everyone had to be in position and ready. Farmer would be the one to tell them when that exactly would be.

Colton moved close to the two men he was about to warn to look out for women with tomahawks or bows and arrows.

“Hey, Earl.” He rode up to the two men, moving his eyes between the two of them.

“What’s goin’ on, Colton?” Earl asked, a skeptical look on his face.

Colton’s first thought was that he suspected he was going to be asked to go AWOL in support of Colton’s cause, which was not to fight anymore. Most of the men in the unit knew Colton’s position on attacking the Indians. There was plenty of land to go around, as far as Colton was concerned. And he was determined to let everyone know it, sometimes to his own detriment.

“I’m thinkin’ there’s probably no chance that village is unguarded. Those Natives aren’t stupid. They’ve got people there to protect the chief and the women and the little ones. You two be careful. Keep your eyes sharp and your gun ready.”

“Yeah, that’s what we were gonna do anyway,” Earl confirmed. Finn, a dark-haired, deep-eyed young man of twenty-one, two years younger than Colton but with the personality of a seventy-year-old, nodded his agreement as well.

“It’s just good policy to go into every fight like you mean it. Like you expect to be threatened and shot at.”

“Just want you to be vigilant, that’s all.”

Earl nodded. “You really got time to be worryin’ about us when you keep stickin’ your foot out and trippin’ up the colonel?”

His question made Colton laugh. “That’s kind of a nice image there, Earl, thanks. Just thinkin’ about everybody not dyin’, that’s all.”

Finn let out a sharp laugh. “Go tell that to the colonel. I dare ya.”

Chapter Four

Sister Anna emerged from the room with Doctor Barnaby. Her face was solemn and serious, and it made Colton’s heart beat harder. She nodded at the man as they parted ways, the doctor heading for the entrance to the orphanage. Colton had spent the last half-hour pacing back and forth in the hallway near the door of the room Pete was in. 

Clearly, his friend wasn’t dead. He’d run all the way back to the orphanage with Pete in tow. He just had a broken arm and a big knot on his head. Colton felt terrible, even though he knew it wasn’t his fault.

“Sister Anna,” Colton said, lifting one hand to get the woman’s attention. She took her eyes from the doctor and swiveled them to him. They were like two big pools of gray water, flanked on top and bottom by long brown eyelashes. Her eyes were so kind and gentle. She could be strict and firm, but overall, Sister Anna was the nicest woman Colton had ever met. “Is he gonna be okay?”

Sister Anna huffed. “I’m sincerely hoping this has knocked some sense into that boy. What were you thinking, climbing that tree? Haven’t I told you to leave it alone?”

“I’m sorry, Sister Anna,” Colton replied sincerely. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I feel awful. Can I go in and see him?”

She nodded, but before he went past her, she put one hand on his shoulder. He met her eyes and felt warm all over. “You just remember that this isn’t your fault, Colton. You didn’t put him up in that tree, nor did you swing like a monkey off the weakest limb of them all. He is responsible for his own actions. But you must take care because Peter looks up to you. You have a lot of influence on him. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

Colton nodded, though he felt a heavy weight regardless of her words of comfort. He was also a bit nervous. He didn’t know why Peter would look up to him. He wasn’t anything special. 

“I do, Sister Anna,” he answered. 

“Good. Because you’re a good boy and you’re a good role model for the younger children. But you still have a lot to learn before you are a grown man. It’s okay to have fun, it really is. But you must be responsible in everything you do, conscientious of any danger, taking precautions not to go around getting your arm broken like some young men we know. Isn’t that right?”

Colton grinned softly. “Yes, ma’am.”

She nodded, patting his shoulder. “Okay, go on in now. Don’t get him all excited. He’s restricted to the bed for the foreseeable future. You keep calm in there, you hear?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Colton went past her, heading to the nearly closed door and pushing it open quietly. He peeked his head around the door and looked at the bed where his friend lay. 

“Hey you,” he said, pushing the door all the way and swinging it back behind him. He walked to the bed while Peter tried to push himself up with one arm to sit with his back against the headboard. 

“Howdy,” Peter greeted him. His grin was cocky and one-sided. “I fell outta the tree, bud. I fell outta the tree!” 

---

“An Orphan’s Quest for Justice” is an Amazon Best-Selling novel, check it out here!

Colten Francis is a man on the run with his former comrades hot on his trail. Seeking safety, he joins a wagon train headed through a mountain pass into Wyoming. As a passive man unsuited to the soldier’s life, Colten yearns for peace, but trouble seems to follow him wherever he goes.

Sometimes though peace is not an option…

Agatha, traveling with her young son Jacob, is also fleeing from a dark past. She holds a secret that could bring the notorious Dupont Gang down upon them all. When Colten joins the wagon train, their paths cross, and Agatha is faced with a new challenge.

Will she be able to keep her secret hidden, and can she trust Colten to help her?

With a vengeful Colonel determined to bring Colten to justice and the Dupont Gang closing in, Colten and Agatha must navigate a treacherous path filled with danger. In this tale full of action, adventure, and the power of perseverance, will they find the peace and safety they desperately seek, or will trouble keep following?

“An Orphan’s Quest for Justice” is a historical adventure novel of approximately 70,000 words. No cliffhangers, only pure unadulterated action.

Get your copy from Amazon!