If Ever That Time Come
Rowena
by
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The captain’s return brought my precarious situation home to me with a bang. He had four soldiers with him, all armed to the teeth. Most of his courtesy and manners had vanished like smoke in a high wind. "The patrol I dispatched has returned, Madameoiselle Conrad. They were instructed to search for the remains of your party. They found nothing. No bodies, no stray horses, no wagon, no baggage, nothing." He seated himself behind his desk, motioned to the four men to bring me closer and continued, face a cold, angry mask. "Perhaps you had better tell me who you are, what you are doing here and why you lied to me about the circumstances of your arrival." At a nod from him, I felt four bayonets pressing into my sides and back. The dragoons were close enough for me to smell their sweat and foul breath. I could feel my knees begin to buckle and the pain in my head intensified along with the roaring in my ears. Dimly, I heard a voice shouting at me from a great distance, but the words made no sense... *** I was roused from my faint by a large, cold hand sliding under my sweatshirt and the awful odor of a long-unwashed body and never-brushed teeth close to my face. A raspy whisper attacked my ears, "It be a woman, gents, but she ain’t wearin’ no dress." I heard a sharp intake of breath when his thumb brushed the rounded swell of my breast. Fearing the worst, I decided it was past time to put a stop to this. Swinging my free hand in a round-house swing, I connected solidly with the offender’s ear. The sound of the slap resounded in the stinking darkness like a pistol shot and the offending fingers were jerked from beneath my shirt. I heard a body strike an unyielding surface and an angry, injured, "Ouch, damn it!" A chorus of jeering laughter greeted this occurrence and another male voice said quietly, "Best leave her alone, Jenks, mayhap she don’t want ye feelin’ her up." This man’s eyes were better adjusted to the total blackness than mine, for while I could see nothing, I felt and heard the rustle of clothing, soft footsteps and the soft padded thud of his body sitting next to my resting place. "Tell me, Mistress, why they put ye in here with the rest o’us common criminals? That’s French scent y’re wearin’, if my nose ain’t playin’ me false."
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About the Book
After publishing her first book, STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS, with 1stBooks Library in 2001, Toni Cantrell has completed another fascinating novel, called IF EVER THAT TIME COME (with a bow to William Shakespeare's 49th Sonnet). This Indiana native's rich imagination has taken her to Colonial America in a fantasy love story about time travel, Native Americans and their wonderful legends and lore. Full of danger, excitement and glimpses of early American life on the frontier, Rowena Conrad's adventures will keep the reader avidly turning pages to discover what happens next. Her life in 1999 seems quite settled and happy with a doting fiancé and stepson, but when a member of the Manaquan Indian tribe accidentally sends her bacj to 1756 into French captivity at Fort Michilimackinac, her troubles are just beginning. Will Rowena be able to return to her own time? Does she want to return? What will happen when she meets the medicine woman responsible for her strange journey? Who is Matthew Russell and what part does he play in Rowena's new life? Meet and fall in love with Rowena Conrad, a thoroughly modern miss whose fresh approach to age-old problems will surely charm.
About the Author
Toni Cantrell, born and raised in Indiana, has been writing longer than she cares to remember. This housewife, mother, grandmother, former Pay Less Supermarket employee from Anderson seems almost compelled to write. Her first published novel, STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS, also from 1stBooks Library, is a contemporary Christian romance/action/adventure/ inspirational work. This latest effort is a time-travel/fantasy/romance. She also has a five book family saga she's been working on for the past eighteen years, several science fiction books, a '30s murder mystery, a pirate's tale, and a modern police woman's story set in Anderson and Chicago, with the working title NIKKI DIMARCO. If that isn't enough, she and friend Belinda Simmons, writing as Allen Simmons-Cantrell, are collaborating on a new novel titled LIKE HIM WITH FRIENDS POSSESS'D, a story of friendship, self-discovery, love and betrayal. Toni says without the support and help of her husband, family and friends, she might never have pursued her writing.