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Overview
Danny and Coley McGuire have nothing left to lose. In a way, the death of their alcoholic father came as relief, but after their beloved mother passes away, the siblings have only themselves to rely on. Danny has always been protective of his innocent, nineteen-year-old sister. And he hopes to find a better life for her in Texas with their aunt Wilhelmina.
When they finally reach the Slash S Ranch, Aunt Willy welcomes them with open arms and happily transforms Coley from a shy, slouching girl into a charming beauty. But the rest of the Savage clan isn’t quite as hospitable. In particular, Jase Savage—with his ice-blue eyes and the livid scar on his face—seems set on ignoring her very existence. Coley isn’t sure why he’s so angry, but she suspects it has something to do with the scar his grandfather calls “the mark of Cain.”
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781497615557 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Open Road Media |
| Publication date: | 04/01/2014 |
| Series: | The Americana Series , #43 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 132 |
| Sales rank: | 78,068 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
About the Author
Janet Dailey, who passed away in 2013, was born Janet Haradon in 1944 in Storm Lake, Iowa. She attended secretarial school in Omaha, Nebraska, before meeting her husband, Bill. The two worked together in construction and land development until they “retired” to travel throughout the United States, inspiring Dailey to write the Americana series of romances, setting a novel in every state of the Union. In 1974, Dailey was the first American author to write for Harlequin. Her first novel was No Quarter Asked. She went on to write approximately ninety novels, twenty-one of which appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. She won many awards and accolades for her work, appearing widely on radio and television. Today, there are over three hundred million Janet Dailey books in print in nineteen different languages, making her one of the most popular novelists in the world. For more information about Dailey, visit www.janetdailey.com.
Read an Excerpt
Savage Land
The Americana Series: South Carolina
By Janet Dailey
OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA
Copyright © 1974 Janet DaileyAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4976-1555-7
CHAPTER 1
ANOTHER bolt of lightning flamed out of the dark, rolling clouds, followed by a heart-pounding clap of thunder. Colleen McGuire's pulse raced as she involuntarily cringed in her seat. Her large hazel eyes remained fixed on the windshield where the wipers were vainly attempting to wash away the sheets of rain descending from the menacing clouds. Apprehensively she glanced at her brother behind the wheel.
'Danny, don't you think we should stop?' Fear brought a trembling to her words in spite of her effort to control it.
'Just where would you suggest, Coley?' he snapped, not taking his attention from the emptiness in front of them. 'If we stop now, we probably won't get this old clunker started again.'
'We should have listened to that man back at the garage,' Coley murmured as a fresh torrent of water pummelled down on their car.
'That was thirty miles back, and it was only sprinkling then!' Danny flashed at her. Tension from the strain of creeping along the winding Texas road made him unnaturally sharp. 'How was I supposed to know it would be like this!'
'But he said it was raining bad in the mountains, that the road could flood. And those signs we've been seeing,' Coley persisted logically. At her words, a highway sign was illuminated by their car's headlights—'During wet weather, watch low water crossings'. A sickening moan escaped her lips. 'Oh, Danny, there's another!'
'Coley, will you stop carrying on about a little rain and thunder! Aren't you ever going to grow out of that childish fear?' her brother retorted. His knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel as if his life depended on him not letting it go. With determination, he added, 'We're going to make it. Don't you worry.'
A forced smile appeared on Coley's mouth as she gulped down her fears and turned to look out her side window. Instinctively her long fingers went to her mouth, where she absently chewed on a nail while watching the jagged forks of lightning turn the hills and mountains around them into towering monsters. Her reflection in the window glass dimly mirrored her thin, angular face with its fine, arched brows, and large hazel eyes that had, if it was possible, grown wider with her anxiety, and her button nose that was fogging a small section of the glass. Her wispy brown hair was as indistinct in the reflection as it was in life, limply hanging below her gamin ears. And yet there was a childlike charm about her that was oddly appealing and a promise of unusual beauty at maturity.
The old Chevy slowed slightly while water swirled around its wheels. It was another water crossing. The colour washed out of Coley's face as she turned her head from the sickening rush of the stream. Numbly she watched her brother's taut face, feeling the current tugging at the car, trying to sweep it off the road. Coley felt herself stiffen with Danny as they slowly edged their way between two poles midway in the crossing. The water was above the hubcaps and inching under the door before they finally made it to the other side. Coley could see the relief on her brother's face when they reached solid ground again.
'What were those poles there for?' She forced herself to speak to stem the rising panic within her, knowing her brother was beginning to worry, too. When he failed to answer her immediately, she repeated the question.
'High water markers,' he replied grimly. His young face was beginning to show the strain of the constant demands on his driving ability. He glanced worriedly over at his sister before returning to the road. 'I'm sure we don't have too much farther to go.'
Despite his attempt to reassure her, his growing apprehension increased her fear. Danny was ten months younger than she, but he had always taken the part of 'older brother', watching over and protecting Coley even now when she was almost twenty.
'I wish we would have let Aunt Wilhelmina know we were coming.' Coley's eyes ruefully surveyed the lonely stretch ahead where canyons poked shadowy fingers at the road. 'At least someone would know we were here. Why didn't you let me write and tell her we were coming?'
A cynical laugh slipped out of Danny's drawn lips. But he couldn't voice his feelings because he knew his soft-hearted sister didn't realize that people often extended offers of help with no intentions of having them accepted. Never having met Aunt Wilhelmina, he had deliberately not notified her for fear that she would retract her invitation for them to come live with her.
Hesitantly he glanced over at Coley huddled on the passenger seat flinching at each crash of lightning. Silently he studied her long-limbed body and the cheap flowered print dress she wore before, grimly, turning back to state out the rain-coated windshield. 'What a rotten life she's had,' he thought, not considering that his had been the same. The first time that he had recognized and understood the abuse they had received at the hands of their father was during one of his drunks, when Danny had done his best to shield his sister and to protect her if he could. Sober, their father had been a wonderful man, but he hadn't been sober very often. There had been a subconscious relief when he had finally been killed in a car wreck—the result of drunken driving.
But for Danny and Coley in the first years of their teens, the hardships had just begun. Their mother, delicate all her life, within a year was an invalid from asthma. It was shortly after that that a stubborn pride and hardened bitterness grew in Danny, not for the luxuries they were deprived of, nor the constant part-time jobs that he took to earn enough money to keep them going, but for the clucking tongues of neighbours that continuously deplored their lack of supervision out of one side of their mouths while offering empty promises of help at the same time.
Their mother had refused to let either of them leave school, which Danny supposed he should be grateful for. But since both he and Coley had to rush away as soon as the last bell rang, he to go to work and Coley to look after their mother, there had never been any time for sports, or school dances, or friends. He didn't mind, because 'men' didn't miss those things, but Coley should have had them instead of housework, cooking and nursing.
'Why do you suppose Momma never mentioned Aunt Wilhelmina?' A frown creased Coley's wide forehead, unknowingly interrupting Danny's musings.
'I don't know,' Danny shrugged. 'I'm just glad she had an aunt.'
'Aren't you just the teensiest bit scared? Coming out here and presenting yourself to a complete stranger who didn't even know we existed until you wrote her that letter telling her Mother had died.'
Coley had never been around other people much and strangers tended to make her shy and withdrawn. Her quiet ways usually made people forget she was there, which increased her reserve. Almost hypnotized by the back and forth sweep of the wipers, she remembered the day she had been helping Danny go through their mother's trunk about a week after the funeral. Coley hadn't quite understood his excitement at finding that letter at the bottom of a pile of old photographs. With painstaking care he had written this unknown relative, saying a silent prayer that she hadn't died already. When the reply and invitation came just a week ago, Danny had walked into the restaurant where Coley had a job as waitress and, with a jubilant air of satisfaction, told her to quit. How he had hated her working there and the off-colour remarks his naive 'little' sister was subjected to. He didn't like the idea that Coley, marked for future beauty in his eyes, should lower herself to serving people who weren't fit to serve her. His conviction had deepened when he had caught Carl making a pass at Coley.
Another roll of thunder reverberated out of the hills, drawing a terrified gasp from Coley. Glancing over at her tightly clasped yet trembling fists, Danny fortified his confidence in his decision.
'We've got to forget everything we've left behind us,' he said. 'This is our chance to start a whole new life, to make something of ourselves with nobody around to tell us we can't do it.'
'But we could have done that in San Antoine,' she replied, gazing earnestly at her brother. 'With me working, we would have had enough money to get a nicer apartment, and later I could have got a better job. And you had so many friends there.'
'I couldn't stand you working in that place,' he declared vehemently. 'And the thought of you marrying one of those "friends" and having a bunch of squalling brats running around makes me sick. No, when you marry, it's going to be somebody respectable who can give you your own home and nice clothes. He's going to be good and decent, not someone like Carl.'
A shudder quaked through Coley as the repulsive memory swept through her. How she had tried to forget that night when Carl had taken her home, saying that Danny was going to be late. She had tried to be polite despite her inner revulsion of him, because he was Danny's friend. She could still remember the way his dark eyes had raked over her as he unlocked the apartment door and barred her entry with a tanned arm. Numbly she had stood silent, a crimson blush coveting her face. She could still hear his mocking laugh as he teased her about her unkissed lips before slipping a slender arm behind her back and drawing her to him. She had tried to push herself away from him, but he had only laughed and forced her face to his. The naked lust in his face had terrified her, but she had been helpless against his animal strength. The opportune arrival of Danny and his strident yell broke the one-sided embrace. In a tightly controlled temper, her brother ordered Carl out, but not before he had winked cockily at Coley.
A fresh onslaught of rain stirred Coley out of her reflection. Silently she watched the headlight beams pick out another water crossing ahead of them. The angry black water swirled menacingly before them as she felt Danny change gears in anticipation. Again in the middle of the crossing were markers with water churning below the three foot mark.
'Danny, it's too deep!' she cried. 'We'll never make it across!'
Her brother's face was ashen as they inched their way through the water. Her breathing stopped while the swift current swayed the back end. They were almost on the other side when the motor died. Gasping, Coley turned her terrified eyes to Danny and watched him vainly attempt to start it again. It was no use. The dull hum of the starter foretold the futility despite earnest pleadings from the driver. In a fit of anger, Danny jerked the key out of the ignition and looked at Coley sitting petrified on the opposite side of the car.
'I'm sorry, Coley,' he muttered. 'We'll have to leave the car. Let me get out my side first.'
Rolling down his window, Danny squirmed out the narrow opening into the swirling dark waters. Coley watched him make his way through the driving rain around to her side. Storms had always terrified her and being stranded afoot in one of such violence sent an earthquake through her body. Bravely she crawled through her window to Danny's waiting arms.
'I can walk,' she protested faintly when Danny continued carrying her until they were out of the stream. Watching the rain stream down his troubled face as he stood her up, she added, 'I'm all right, Danny. I can make it.'
He smiled proudly at her already rain-soaked head inches below his before searching the cloud-darkened countryside. His gaze stopped at the faint outline of a plateau with an overhanging section of rock.
Pointing towards it, he instructed, 'Do you see that place where the rocks jut out over that high area? I want you to go there and wait for me. I saw a lane back on the other side and it might lead to a house and help.'
'No, Danny, let me come with you,' Coley cried. 'I'm not a child, I can make it.'
'There's no sense in both of us going,' he replied. 'I'll come back for you just as soon as I can.'
He didn't give her any further opportunity to protest, but immediately waded into the swollen waters of the crossing. Coley stretched out her arm to him, then drew it back to cover her mouth as she watched him disappear into the flooding waters. He was swimming now as a glimpse of his white face appeared to her in the midst of another flash of lightning. The swift, churning current dragged him downstream, but her impatient eyes saw him reach the other side and struggle on to the bank. Gratefully, Coley saw him wave that he was okay and cup his hands to call to her, but his voice was carried away by the thunder. He was probably reassuring her that he would be back, and she waved in answer. Then he was gone, swallowed up in the blackness of the land.
Silently she stood watching the empty road until a bolt of lightning crashed again to the ground, jolting her out of her immobility. Conscious of her sodden dress and the chilling cold creeping into her bones. Coley struck out for the shelter Danny had pointed out to her. It looked farther away now than it did before and she cast a rueful glance down at her sandals as she set out. Determined not to lose her way, she picked out landmarks, a yucca plant here, farther on a willow, all in a straight line with her destination. Her long legs doggedly placed one foot in front of the other ignoring the slippery, muddy ground.
Four times Coley stopped and wiped the rain from her face to peer through the sheets of water at her goal. Panting now with the cold beginning to chatter her teeth, she pushed on until she reached the bottom of the hill. The slope up was a lot steeper than it looked. With water oozing out of the spongy ground, she knew she would have to crawl up the hill. Coley gazed back forlornly to the road, but her vision was obscured twenty feet around her by the rain. She couldn't even see the top of the hill except when the lightning illuminated the sky with its eerie forked tongue. Sighing her despair, she turned to the hill.
If only she could have gone with Danny, she thought, but she knew she would never have made it across. She couldn't swim.
The slick-soled sandals couldn't find a foothold in the slimy hill, reducing Coley to clawing her way with her hands and pushing herself up with her knees. Her new nylons were in shreds and her best dress stained with mud. Her breath came in panic-born sobs as she fought to keep herself from sliding back. She was almost at the top. Gasping in the rain-laden air, she dug her long fingers into the ground to pull herself closer.
A hand grabbed hold of her arm; another caught her under the opposite shoulder and she was on top! A faint laugh escaped between her gasps for breath as Coley took a muddy hand to wipe the hair out of her face. 'Danny-made it. He's already here,' her thoughts cried.
'Oh, Danny!' she sobbed aloud, just as a silver-gold tongue of lightning licked a nearby hill. The words froze in her throat. Standing before her was a tall, dark form with a cape billowing sinisterly about him, a hat pulled low on his face, but not so low that Coley couldn't see the short stubble of a dark beard and the haunting hollows of his eyes during that brief flash. Behind him loomed a shiny black horse, his head tossing and his hooves pawing viciously at the ground.
Recovering her wits, Coley managed to stammer, 'My br-brother went ... our car ...'
'I saw it,' was the abrupt reply. His voice was deep and sharp.
Coley watched in petrified silence as the stranger swung into the saddle. Was he going to leave her? Nudging the prancing horse over beside her, he lowered a shiny-coated arm to her. Frightened, she started to step back.
'Come on!' Impatience growled through his words. 'We can't stay in the rain all night.'
He didn't really expect her to get on that horse, she thought. She'd never been on a horse in her life! But common sense had moved her hand into his and she was effortlessly swung up in front of him.
'W-where are we going?' stuttered Coley as he tucked the front of his rain slicker, that she had thought a cape, around her to afford her as much protection as was possible from the downpour.
'There's an old lineshack on the other side of the hill,' he replied, an arm holding her slight, boyish figure closely to him. He nudged his horse into a walk and despite the strength of his arm, Coley felt her perch, so high off the ground, rather precarious especially with the rolling motion of the horse's shoulders.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Savage Land by Janet Dailey. Copyright © 1974 Janet Dailey. Excerpted by permission of OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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