for the sake of family
Date Published: 12-01-2025
Set in the late 1890’s, The Brothers Brown – a family saga, Part 2 – For
the Sake of Family is a sweeping frontier saga of love, guilt, and redemption
– an unflinching portrait of a man’s descent into madness amid the
unforgiving wilds of Indian Territory.
When Matt Brown boards a northbound train, he carries more than a pistol. He
carries the weight of his brother’s death, a marriage strained to its
breaking point, and a conscience at war with itself. A doctor’s brown
vial of medicine offers fleeting relief but soon draws him into a darker world
where pain and guilt blur into something far more dangerous.
His wife, Milla, proud and rooted in her Choctaw heritage, stands as both his
anchor and his judge as the world around them shifts under the weight of
change and loss.
From Fort Smith, Arkansas, to the wooded banks of Bokchito Creek, two families
are bound by tragedy and love, vengeance and mercy. A celebration meant to
heal ignites old resentments. A family gathering ends in bloodshed. And a
winter dance turns deadly, forcing each to face the cost of survival,
forgiveness, and the ties that bind them.
Steeped in the spirit of the Choctaw Nation and the rough mercy of the Old
West, For the Sake of Family is a haunting tale of madness, murder, and the
fragile hope that redemption can be found on the far side of ruin.
Excerpt
With each step, the old man’s ankle rattles shook. The dried tails of rattlesnakes fastened to leather strips grew louder and faster as his steps grew heavier. Many of the men had rattles tied to their ankles as well, while the women’s moccasins tingled with strands of beads hanging from the fringe.
Matt watched in awe as the people danced.
“Way-yak-un-way-yak-a,” the leader sang, striking the sticks in measured rhythm, one-and-a, two-and-a, one-and-a, two-and-a. On the twelfth beat, each pair of dancers turned to one another, their right foot kicked dirt inward as they voiced a loud, “woah.”
Spellbound, Matt watched, mouthing the chant under his breath along with the dancers. Then his breath caught. Milla stepped into the firelight, dancing beside a woman he had never seen before.
He gasped aloud, never having seen his wife like this, dressed in full traditional attire, her body moving gracefully in the fire’s glow. For an instant, she seemed a stranger, and yet more truly herself than he had ever known.
She turned her head, eyes lifting toward the trees. Matt stumbled backward, ducking for cover. He had to get out of there.
He spun around and nearly collided with John.
“Shhh.” John pressed a finger to his lips and grabbed Matt’s arm, guiding him quietly away from the gathering.
About the Author
drawn to stories that transcend time. That passion was ignited in 1976 with
the discovery of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, and deepened
with The Feast of All Saints just a few years later. Though historical fiction
wasn’t an immediate calling, a personal journey into genealogy changed
everything.
With no close relatives nearby, R.G. Stanford turned to online resources in
search of extended family. That search became a twenty-year journey through
genealogy websites, Federal Census records, the National Archives, and old
newspapers. Along the way, R.G. Stanford uncovered incredible stories about
her family and the people who once lived in the Choctaw Nation, Indian
Territory.
Compelled to record the truth of her family in the lore, sprinkled with
imagination, R.G. Stanford is a history lover, a research buff, and a
passionate genealogy enthusiast. She is also a mother, a grandmother, and a
teller of stories, now living near Orlando.
