Three Forks - A Novel of Texas
by
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By late afternoon, they crossed the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. Tall trees became scarce and a great prairie opened up before Jake's eyes. Henry told him they'd entered the Island of the Cross Timbers, an expansive prairie surrounded on three sides by heavy woods. Jake wiped his brow with his bandanna, noticing how muggy the air had become outside the trees.
Henry pointed to towering purplish thunderheads to the southwest. "Them clouds don't look none too friendly," he said. "I reckon there's a frog-floating gully washer headed this way."
"Well, maybe it'll cool things off," Jake replied. "I could use a nice cool rainshower about now."
After a while, Jake noticed a peculiar, ominous silence. He listened closely and heard only the familiar squeaking of leather saddles, the monotonous clop, clop of hooves, and the occasional nickers of impatient horses. Humidity hung thick on the still air. Although he thought it must be close to four or five o'clock, an unnatural darkness slowly overtook the afternoon shadows.
To the southwest, a long, crooked bolt of lightning silently flashed from a low-hanging cloud and struck a copse of small mesquite trees in the distance. A brilliant explosion of white sparks erupted. A crisp, acrid smell filled Jake's nostrils. He heard Henry beside him, counting aloud, "One-- two-- three--" until a thunderous crack! almost unsaddled Jake from his horse.
"Damn!" both men said simultaneously.
"That was close," Jake finished. Their horses bucked slightly and fidgeted.
"About a half-mile off, I reckon," Henry said. He explained how he could calculate distance by counting seconds between the flash and thunder. "I'm danged sure glad we ain’t amongst them big ol' post oaks no more," he added. "We could sure get roasted crisp if that lightning hit while we were underneath the trees."
The darkness took on a sinister green tinge across the landscape. A wall cloud one mile away pushed lower toward the horizon like an eerie mist. Jake noticed indistinct shapes slowly forming and reforming within as it grumbled closer. His stomach swirled in unison. The bottom of the cloud appeared to loom only a few feet above the horizon. In between, a small strip of pale yellow sky contrasted with the dark gray cloud.
A flock of blue jays screeched from the top of a nearby mesquite tree. "That ain’t a good sign," Henry said. "I heard jays squawking like that once before in my life. They know when something bad is coming. I hope that ain’t what I think it is heading straight for our unlucky asses."
Rafe unexpectedly galloped by from his lead position, standing in his stirrups and looking wildly back and forth across the prairie. Jake watched anxiously, his heart pounding.
Rafe jerked his horse to a halt. He shaded his eyes with one hand as he looked to the south. He scanned the horizon momentarily, then looked to the southwest.
Jake followed Rafe's eyes and looked in the same direction. The cloud formation he saw didn't make sense. Clouds usually floated parallel to the ground. This one produced a thick, dark, wavering finger that seemed to be trying to decide where to point on the ground, about one mile away. The finger was fat at the top and reached toward the ground with a pointed nail. It reminded him of swirling his finger around in a bowl of his mother's cake batter.
He watched in disbelief as the finger expanded into a monstrous funnel that looked like a drain for the wall cloud above. The funnel touched the ground. Large pieces of debris whipped up in huge swirling circles around the churning whirlwind. It seemed to be eating the prairie. Flattened land replaced a long row of trees behind the funnel as it sucked up everything in sight. Its mindless, ravenous appetite seemed insatiable. The other men murmured and stared in awe, captivated by the phenomenal sight. Jaws dropped and eyes widened. "Twister!" Rafe shouted. "Everybody follow me, now!" He reined his horse left and galloped south. The company suddenly burst to life as spurs kicked hard into horse flesh and dirt flew up behind galloping hooves. A few men remained momentarily, still hypnotized by the awesome sight. Jake rode hard behind Rafe, who appeared to be riding into the storm instead of away from it. Jake kept his eyes right, watching the twister expand outward as it raged nearer. His mind couldn't comprehend what happened as a huge tree suddenly shot twenty feet overhead, a massive root ball hanging from its trunk. Looking beyond Rafe, Jake saw a wide creekbed that sunk five feet below the prairie. Thunder boomed continuously in the sky, growing louder. Jake didn't know what the heck he was doing. He just rode hard on his terrified horse, following Rafe. Jake looked to the right a final time. He saw broad tree trunks swirling wildly around the slowly approaching mass, as if they were twigs tossed in an autumn wind. Up ahead, he saw Rafe ride into the creekbed and jump off his horse. Rafe kept the reins in hand as he flattened himself in the shallow water. Jake leaped off his horse and landed with a splat. Just as Jake hit the water, an ear-splitting roar thundered overhead. Grass, twigs and stones thrashed violently around him, slapping his face and arms. His ears popped and his throat tightened. Something ripped his hat from his head and he felt like his clothes were being torn from his body. In only a few seconds, the noise diminished to a dull roar and debris came crashing down on his back. Water splashed around him as terrified horses screamed and stampeded in every direction. Jake lay still, his eyes squeezed shut. After a while he opened them and heard a deafening silence. He found he'd covered his head with his arms. He peeked over top one arm and looked around. The first thing he saw was a big toothy smile on Rafe's face.
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About the Book
Early Reviews of the Book:
"Rich in historical detail and characterization . . . A fascinating glimpse of life in early 19th century Dallas and North Texas!"
-- Teresa Warfield, author of the Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman trilogy and eight other novels
"Three Forks is an evocative novel of early North Texas. Tom Marlin tells a compelling story of the conflict between the Caddo Tribe and the early frontier settlers, encompassing the myriad emotions and complexities of the people who struggled in opposition to forge a life on the rugged Texas frontier."
-- Jacky Sach, co-founder of Book Ends, LLC and former senior managing editor at Berkley Books (later Penguin Putnam Inc.)
About the Book:
The novel follows the trails of Jake Chalk, a young settler conscripted into the Texas Militia in 1838, and his bitter enemy, Black Wolf, a Caddo war chief. Both are driven by revenge and their inevitable confrontation becomes a mutual obsession.
Jake meets and fights beside many men for whom several of today's North Texas counties, cities and universities are named. While coming of age, Jake grows to be a fierce Militia fighter, courts a beautiful young woman, helps build a frontier fort and is instrumental in settling a new city named Dallas.
More than a western novel and written in the entertaining, historical docudrama style of John Jakes and James Michener, Three Forks: a Novel of Texas tells the exciting story of the events preceding the settlement of North Texas, and the founding of Dallas in 1842. The novel takes the reader back in time to walk among and meet the famous historical figures who helped build Texas in the 1830s and 1840s.
Researched in many cases to the original document level, the novel not only details the history of an area once called "Three Forks," but also provides perspective on the fascinating historic events that occurred throughout the Republic of Texas, and led to its subsequent acceptance as a US state.
Three Forks, named for the confluence of the three main forks of the Trinity River, was a huge block of land in North Texas that today is larger than thirty-six individual US states in population, and nine states in geographical area. It is the home of the world's largest airport, and includes major US cities such as Dallas, Fort Worth and their rapidly growing surrounding cities.
Despite the significance of this area, its fascinating history, spanning 1836 to 1846, is frequently overlooked. This period follows the fall of the Alamo and the Texans' victory at San Jacinto, which leads to freedom from Mexico. As a result, The Republic of Texas is formed - an entire country separate from the United States. The period ends as Texas achieves US statehood, and the US goes to war with Mexico.
Even more overlooked in this period are the conflicts between the Texas Militia in Northeast Texas and many Native American tribes. Brutal attacks by both sides result in many deaths. Terror reigns throughout North Texas settlements and Native American villages. The dispute is over Three Forks, with its beautiful forests, rolling green hills and grassy plains.
Tom Marlin's experience and renown as an artist presents itself in his writing. Through well-crafted prose and dialogues from many cultures, he paints word landscapes and panoramas similar to those found in the works of Zane Gray. Despite the serious drama of military battles and human conflict, romance and humor permeate a revealing story that will both entertain and inform the reader. The novel also contains nine fully illustrated maps.
About the Author
Tom Marlin has been writing in one form or another throughout his career, which has included authoring historical documents, writing and editing newspaper and magazine features, contributing to computer graphics and technical books, and creating public relations and advertising copy. He is also an avocational archaeologist, and has been instrumental in locating important historic sites. But Marlin is not just an author - he is the founder and president of Marlin Studios, a successful developer and publisher of award-winning tools for computer graphics artists. His computer art has been published and praised worldwide in both printed and digital form, and he has been named as one of the top 100 computer graphics artists in the world. Marlin's home is in the Texas woods (in the Three Forks area, of course) where he and fiancée Etta promote historic and wildlife preservation. Read more about Tom and Three Forks, a Novel of Texas on the Internet at: