Here is a second taste of what is to be found in the historical novel, Good Endeavour. Be sure to read the first taste I posted last week….or just order this one on line or from me. ned@sustainable.us

When Eli heard his father go out the front door, he threw off his covers, put on his coat, and went outside to join him. He was shivering from fear of their late-night callers but figured his father could use all the help he could get. Eli noticed that his father’s gun was no longer by the front door.

Once Eli was on the porch, he saw his father standing tall in the darkness and holding his loaded musket. Facing him was a ragtag horde of men and boys clustered around the clearing. It was hard to see them all in the shadows, but several had muskets, and each had an empty burlap gunnysack for hauling home their bounty. 

Eli couldn’t tell how many men were there, but none of them said a thing. They just stared at him as he walked up and joined his father, and like a pack of starving wolves circling its prey, the vigilantes’ eyes gleamed with hunger.

A small man in front held a lantern in his right hand and a musket in his left. But even with that light, it was hard to identify any of the men. Some wore masks and caps, and others wore scarves to hide their faces and to protect them from the bitter cold. Eli thought he might have seen one or two before but couldn’t be sure. He stood up as tall as he could next to his father and waited to see what would happen next.

Eli saw minute snow crystals falling from his father’s breath as he waited. The sap from a tree in the woods exploded from the cold.

The men took a few steps closer, brandishing their weapons. It was clear they were wondering whether to shoot or charge this old man and his son. The odds were in favor of the visitors. It was clear to everyone in the clearing that this would be a life-or-death confrontation, win or lose, and neither side could afford to lose.

A tense silence hung like fog in the darkness. It may have lasted a minute or maybe two. Eli’s knees were shaking, his heart was hammering in his chest, and he could not breathe. He remembered his father’s comments that at some point when civil authority fails, your family’s safety comes down to just you standing up for what is right.

Thanks for reading this tidbit. Hope you enjoyed it. Order copies of the whole book here.