PATRIOT’S COURAGE
Blurb:
Ryan McGowan vows to kill every Indian in
Ohio territory in retaliation for his brother’s death. At the Battle of Fallen
Timbers, he breaks his ribs and finds a white woman sobbing over a dead
warrior. When the captain assigns him to teach the woman English, he resents
the task, but the woman melts his vengeance away. He begins to understand the
way to peace is forgiveness. Then he learns the woman carries the child of her
Indian husband in her womb.
Màxkchulëns, a white woman
adopted by the Lenape at the age of four, is confined at the fort and longs to
return to her people. Though Ryan leads her to recall part of the faith her
biological parents held dear, she struggles to understand it and the power of
grace.
Can she rely on that grace in desperate
times? And will faith protect her unborn child as well?
Excerpt:
Màxkchulëns, also known as Red Bird, stopped
grinding corn and listened. Her proud husband, Running Beaver, felt confident
the white men would be defeated as they had been three years ago. But now an
eerie silence hovered in the air as the distant drums ceased pounding. The
repeated sounds of gunfire ended. The birds resumed their songs. The river
gurgled along the banks. “
It is too soon.” Her aunt frowned.
Fear wound through Red Bird. Last night’s
strange dream seemed to be a warning, frightening her so badly she mentioned it
to no one.
The other women quit working and gathered
together on the outskirts of their village. They waited, for the calm did not
bode well. Red Bird took out a smooth, round white stone from her medicine bag
and rubbed it. Running Beaver gave it to her when they were both children. He
was a strong, brave warrior who did not fear death. Yet, Red Bird trembled. She
loved Running Beaver. When she first came to the village, he coaxed her out of
her fright. His gentle, kind manner and patience eased her misery.
Sudden shouts alerted her and the other women as
the young boys returned with news of the rout and the failure of their British
allies to open their fort and give aid in the fight. The boys claimed many
warriors lay dead on the field of battle.
Màxkchulëns, haunted by her alarming dream,
started toward the battlefield. Other women followed.
Her aunt tried to drag her back. “There may
still be white soldiers there. It is dangerous!”
Red Bird refused to listen. She shoved her
aunt’s arm away and walked onward until she came upon the appalling site of the
brief battle. Dead and dying men with ghastly wounds littered the area. Blood
coated the earth. The sound of wailing women rent the air with grief. The sharp
smell of gunpowder mingled with a putrid stench in the heavy, humid air. The
odor turned her stomach.
Red Bird drew a cloth over her nose. Her heart
thundered as she stared into the faces of dead men, hoping to find the one that
mattered most to her.
The yellow hide soldiers went about the task of
picking up their wounded and dying. She stayed as far away from them as she
could, but the task proved difficult for huge fallen trees covered the area and
men lay in between the many trunks.
After some time, she found Running Beaver. She
reeled at the sight of the grievous wound in his back. His face lay in the dirt
while his body pressed against a huge, felled tree. She knelt beside him and
reached for his still, cold hand. Last night in her dream, he walked along the
white road of stars on his journey to the village of the Great Creator,
Kishelemukong.
She could not tell her husband of her fears, for
he would have scoffed at her. No brave warrior would refuse to fight in a
battle simply because his woman asked him to do so.
She glanced around, uneasy. In her nightmare,
another warrior, Dancing Squirrel, pulled her from Running Beaver. She’d woken
from her dream shaking and in a cold sweat. She never trusted Dancing Squirrel.
Once, he wanted her to be his woman, but she refused him as was her right.
Since that time, he sneered at her in a threatening manner whenever he saw her.
Now that Running Beaver was dead, would Dancing
Squirrel ask to have her as his woman once more? Tears gathered in her eyes,
but she tried to hold them back as she caressed her husband’s shoulder and sang
the death song to him. Sorrow welled up and choked her words. Her shattered
hopes raked her soul until it was raw.
A soldier approached. He laughed at her. She
scooted back against the bark of the fallen tree. The tall man stood over her.
His hulking, muscular build rivaled that of any of the strongest warriors. He
muttered something, reached down, grabbed her arm, hauled her upright, and
squeezed her bosom.
Red Bird screamed and struggled to get away, but
his strength overwhelmed her. He pulled at her braided hair and gave a raucous
laugh.
She tugged the braid out of his hand.
Another solider, carrying his bright, woolen
jacket on his arm hobbled toward them. With his face creased in pain, he leaned
on a sturdy branch. He spoke to Màxkchulëns’s abuser in a low tone layered
with harsh severity. The abuser stopped fondling her but continued to hold her
arm so tightly she thought he would break it. She screamed until her voice grew
hoarse. The man leaning on the branch spat out sharp words, winced, and turned
ashen. Other men hurried to drag her abuser away.
The man with the sturdy branch offered his
jacket to her. She did not want it, but she assumed wearing it would mark her
in some way as protected. She accepted the woolen coat.
As she donned the garment, another wave of fear
and grief consumed her. She collapsed over her husband’s body and wept, well
aware she remained at the mercy of the horrible soldiers. She didn’t care.
Running Beaver no longer breathed and would no longer smile. He must leave her
behind as he went on his long journey to Kishelemukong’s village. Mired in her
misery, she wished for death to come soon. Perhaps one of the soldiers who
killed Running Beaver would kill her as well.
After a while, she lay exhausted and spent from
her weeping. The flow of tears ended, leaving her hollow. The rumble of a heavy
wagon sounded nearby. She glanced to the side and watched as the yellow hides
lifted their wounded into the back of the vehicle. The man who gave her his
jacket spoke to several other soldiers. He plainly suffered from the effort of
speaking but the other men scurried about in obvious obedience. She wondered if
he was a chief.
Two soldiers lifted her off her feet. Red Bird
did not struggle or scream this time. If they were to kill her, she would die
as courageous a death as any warrior. The men placed her in the wagon beside
the man who must be their chief. He drew her hand in his. She did not pull hers
away. He spoke to her in a whisper, but she did not understand his language.
Perhaps he was telling her how she was to die.
The other women of her tribe stood with their heads bowed as the wagon lumbered by them. None of them came to her aid, and she did not expect them to put themselves in danger. A brief swell of panic nearly consumed her, but she fought against it. She would be strong, she would be courageous, and she would soon join her husband on the white road of stars.
Purchase Links:
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Patriots-Courage-Patriot-Historical-Romance-ebook/dp/B08FBH9BKN
Pelican Book Group:
https://pelicanbookgroup.com/ec/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1502
Barnes & Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/patriots-courage-penelope-marzec/1137443133?ean=9781522398820
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/patriot-s-courage
Google Play Books:
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Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/patriots-courage/id1526512077
PATRIOT’S
HEART
1st
Book in the Patriots Series
Blurb:
Agnes, a blacksmith, runs the forge while her
father fights in the Continental Army. The morning after the Battle of
Monmouth, she discovers a wounded British soldier in her barn. Despite the
risk, she vows to heal him as she believes a good Samaritan should.
Edwin, third son of the Duke of Dalfour, was
supposed to become a barrister. He opted to run away and join the army. Shot on
a mission to deliver the general’s message, he wakes in Agnes’s barn unaware of
how he got there and missing his horse. If he is caught, he could be hung, but
Loyalists are also searching for British deserters. If anyone discovers he is
the son of the Duke, he is doomed.
Agnes tells everyone Edwin is her mother’s
cousin, but she soon finds herself falling in love with him. When Loyalists
kidnap her sister, Edwin vows to bring the child back from the British held
camp. Can Agnes trust him? Or is he using her sister as an excuse to return to
his company? Will Agnes ever see her sister again? And will Edwin break her
heart?
Links:
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Patriots-Heart-Penelope-Marzec/dp/194009948X
Pelican Book Group:
https://pelicanbookgroup.com/ec/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=&products_id=1098
Barnes & Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/patriots-heart-penelope-marzec/1118482506?ean=9781940099705
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/patriot-s-heart-1
Google Play Books:
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?pcampaignid=books_read_action&id=jUujDwAAQBAJ
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/patriots-heart/id1474307212
PATRIOT’S
PRIDE
2nd
Book in the Patriots Series
Blurb:
Derrick, a surgeon, is haunted by his brother’s death. When his
prayers went unanswered, he turned his faith to science. He believes studying
with an esteemed surgeon in England will return meaning to his life.
Margaret’s fiancé died at the hands of a doctor who bled him to death. On board
the Prosperity, she meets the arrogant Doctor Fortune who considers her no less
than a milkmaid. She considers him a butcher. Though she must journey to
England to hear the reading of the will of her grandfather, the Earl of Broadcraft,
she finds herself constantly confronting Derrick on his methods of healing.
Yet, there is something about his soulful eyes that attracts her.
When a British ship presses the Prosperity’s sailors into service, Margaret and
Derrick must work together if they are to reach England. But can they ever
learn to trust each other enough to allow love into their hearts?
Links:
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Patriots-Pride-Penelope-Marzec-ebook/dp/B07QMYKX4V/
Pelican Book Group:
https://pelicanbookgroup.com/ec/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=&products_id=1097
Barnes & Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/patriots-pride-penelope-marzec/1122172253?ean=9781943104093
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/patriot-s-pride-1
Google Play Books:
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Penelope_Marzec_Patriot_s_Pride?id=jSyRDwAAQBAJ
Apple Books:
Comments
Thanks so much for posting my books on your blog. I really appreciate it.
Penelope