Historical Fiction
Date Published: 05-19-2024
Publisher: Mustard Seed Press
It’s 1866 on the Santa Fe Trail. Sixteen-year-old Lila Bonner is
forced to make a life-changing decision that leaves her frightened and alone.
With help from a kindhearted stranger, Lila reaches Council Grove, Kansas,
where she hopes to build a new life. Fortified with determination, and tapping
into a strength she didn’t know she had, Lila deals with basic survival,
Indian unrest, and an epidemic. As she develops into a wise, capable young
woman, an unspeakably evil plot threatens her life as well as a blossoming
romance. Her fate hangs in the balance between the person who betrayed her,
the man she loves, and the woman she’s become.
Excerpt from Lila’s Journey
She kept up a brisk pace through the wooded path as the sun peaked in and out
of the clouds, shifting the shadows of the trees. Some of the trees had shed
their leaves, but the mighty oaks still clung to theirs, and they rattled in
the breeze. She kept her arms under her cloak for warmth but slowed
momentarily when the sound of the rattling changed. She did a quick turnaround
but saw nothing. “Must have been some critter scampering about,”
she said, and picked up her pace again.
It happened so fast it scarcely registered.
Large hands overpowered her and grabbed her from behind, one covered her
mouth, the other circled her waist. A surge of adrenaline triggered a painful
heartbeat in her chest. She screamed through the clamped hand, but the sound
was choked off. Lila struggled to free her arms from inside her cloak while
she wildly kicked backwards. The harder she fought, the fiercer the grip. Lila
raised her leg and shot it backwards again, this time hitting a shin. A rough
voice cursed in her ear.
She was lifted off her feet and shoved against a tree, snapping the side of
her head against the trunk. Pain shot through her head. Dazed, she made a
feeble attempt to grab the arms. A hand slapped hard against her face. Spots
danced before her eyes with the disappearing daylight, then nothing.
When Lila came out of the fog of unconsciousness, she found herself in
darkness. She was blindfolded. She was on a horse with someone sitting behind
her, someone with unspeakable body odor whose breath reeked of whiskey. What
was happening? Who has done this? She had a throbbing headache, made worse
with each step of the horse over the uneven ground.
Reaching for her head, she realized her hands were bound together. Why am I
tied up? This makes no sense. She was a captive and there was nothing she
could do to give herself any advantage. The realization sent her into a frenzy
of fear, and tears swelled under her blindfold. Dear God, what am I to do?
Now fully awake, her heart pounded as she tried to clear her head. She had no
idea how long she’d been unconscious, no idea where she was, no idea who
sat behind her in the saddle. She shuddered to think who her captor was and
what he had in mind.
About the Author
Award winning author Jane Coletti Perry’s second novel,
Lila’s Journey, will be released summer 2024. Her short story
“Lila’s Song” won Women Writing the West LAURA Award (2021)
and is the prequel to Lila’s Journey. Her previous historical fiction
novel, Marcello’s Promise (2019), was inspired by her family’s
immigrant story. She loves nothing more than digging into history and
discovering unique stories unless it’s bringing those stories to life
through writing. An English major, Perry graduated from Iowa State University
and participates in writer’s workshops, conferences, and local writing
groups.
When she’s not writing, Jane is singing in a choir, exercising in some
fashion, or soaking up nature from a shady spot in the yard with a good book.
She and her husband live in Kansas and have two children and six
grandchildren. She treasures time spent with their far-flung family and still
entertains the fantasy of appearing on Dancing with the Stars for Grandmas,
although the clock is ticking. . .
Jane is a member of Women Writing the West, Western Writers of America, and
Wyoming Writers, Inc.
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