Realizing how precarious his situation was, Grant again threw himself on the rail. To his right was a round life preserver tied off to the railing. He looped his arm through the ropes that secured the preserver and hunkered down on the deck, wrapping his legs about a railing post. Through the white bars of the railing he saw the sea open again to suck them down. They were dropping . . . and overhead the shadow of a mammoth wave grew.
As the wall of water slammed into them from above, Grant clung for his life to the rail, grateful for the ropes securing him. His legs washed out from under him, but he held on, choking on the frothing salt water.
Suddenly he dropped to the deck. Safe! O thanks be to God!
The howling wind dropped off abruptly. The surface of the sea smoothed. Grant prayed the worst was over. After several moments he began to hope.
But it was not to be.
The ocean rose again, higher and higher, and a scream of agony ripped the air, the shriek, not of wind, but of rending iron and steel. The Richmond stood atop the sea, her bow hanging over an abyss. Down the length of the ship Grant saw it all . . . the bow end of the Richmond bending toward him, then with a screeching rend of metal . . . twisting and falling away.
There would be no surviving this storm.
As the rest of the ship began to tilt forward, Grant spoke softly. “O Lord, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
Through the rain Grant saw people, machinery, and debris dropping from the broken ship into the chasm. And then the rest of the ship lurched over and followed.
~~**~~
End of Excerpt
Buy Joy on This Mountain Here!
A Prairie Heritage
One family . . . steeped in the love and grace of God, indomitable in their faith, tried and tested in the fires of life, passing forward a legacy to change their world. The compelling saga of family, faith, and great courage.
Book 1: A Rose Blooms Twice
Book 2: Wild Heart on the Prairie
Book 3: Joy on This Mountain
Book 4: The Captive Within
Book 5: Stolen
Book 6: Lost Are Found
Stealthy Steps
Nanostealth, Book 1
Vikki Kestell
My name is Gemma Keyes. Other than my name, I am utterly forgettable—so those who never paid much attention to me in the first place haven’t exactly noticed that I’ve disappeared. Vanished.
It’s much more complicated than it sounds.
I should tell you about Dr. Samuel Bickel, world-renowned nanophysicist. We used to work together, but I’ll be candid with you: He’s supposed to be dead. Well, he’s not. (Imagine my surprise.) Instead of the proverbial “six feet under,” he’s subsisting in an abandoned devolution cavern beneath the old Manzano Weapons Storage Facility on Kirtland Air Force Base here in Albuquerque.
“I need to show you what I’m protecting here, Gemma,” he insisted.
I stared into the clear glass case. I could hear . . . humming, clicking, buzzing. A faint haze inside the box shifted. Dissolved. Came back together. It reminded me of how mercury, when released on a plate, will flow and form new shapes. Only this, this thing was “flowing and forming” in midair.
“Do you see them?” Dr. Bickel asked.
“Them?” I was confused. My mouth opened to a stunned “o” as the silver haze dissolved into blue letters.
H E L L O
Dr. Bickel hadn’t pressed any buttons. Hadn’t said anything. Hadn’t gestured.
He grinned. “Ah. They’ve noticed you. They know they haven’t seen you before.”
“Well, I wish they wouldn’t notice me!” I choked on the words, my eyes fixed on the glass case.
And I need to warn you about General Cushing. The rank and name likely conjure images of a lean but muscled old soldier, posture rigid, iron-gray hair cut “high and tight” framing a weathered face cemented in unyielding lines.
Let me disabuse you of that impression.
General Imogene Cushing is short and a tiny bit plump. She wears her silvered hair in an elegant braid knotted at the nape of her neck, and she knows how to smile sweetly.
With the deadliest of sharks.
You wouldn’t suspect a two-star general, an Air Force O-8, of being a traitor, would you?
Nanostealth
Stealthy Steps, June 1, 2015
Stealth Power, 2016
Stealth Beyond Borders, 2017
Girls from the Mountain
Girls from the Mountain follows the series A Prairie Heritage and profiles four of the young women of Palmer House. Read their life-changing stories and, while doing so, catch glimpses into the lives of Rose and Joy Thoresen and others at Palmer House in the years following Stolen.
Why the series title, “Girls From the Mountain”? This conversation between Joy and Grant excerpted from The Captive Within explains.
Joy was thoughtful. “You said something just now . . .”
“Hm? What was that?”
“You called them girls from the mountain. I rather like that.”
“Certainly less degrading than ‘former prostitutes.’” Grant smiled his endearing half-smile.
“Perhaps that is how we should refer to them from now on. Of course, when the Lord gives us women from Denver, the phrase will no longer apply.”
“Denver is surrounded by mountains. I don’t see a problem with it. It could be our own little code for the young ladies of Palmer House.”
Tabitha
The first of these stand-alone books, Tabitha, features the fiery redhead whose equally fiery temper and affection for her family at Palmer House vie for dominance in her life. In the weeks before Tabitha returns to nursing school, Rose Thoresen challenges Tabitha to write her testimony for other women who will someday live at Palmer House and who will likely face the same need for spiritual and emotional healing that Tabitha herself has faced.
Book 1: Tabitha, Late 2015
The Christian and the Vampire
A Short Story
What happens one sultry summer night when a Christian and a vampire meet on a fire escape and agree to engage in a cordial conversation? A touch of hilarity, plus eye-popping—and Undead heart-starting—revelation as vampire myths and legends give way to greater Truth!
Buy The Christian and the Vampire in Kindle format from Amazon.com.
Excerpt
“Oh, I’m just in the mood for some good conversation. Cordial conversation, I assure you.” The shadows twisted and I thought he turned toward me. “What do you say, Taz?”
“I can always agree to a cordial conversation.”
“Ah. Good.”
I saw that flash of white again and the faint outline of a sharp jaw. His voice was young and cultured, and I guessed his age at about thirty, but . . . but his elegant manner belied that relatively youthful age. Something distinctly mature emanated from him, and I warned myself not to base my estimation of his age on his appearance.
“I watched you work down in the Glades tonight,” he murmured, “and I confess I am somewhat curious . . . about you. . . Taz.”
He paused before adding, casually, “Dear me. This rusty old fire escape doesn’t lend itself much to comfort or civility, does it? Might we be more at our ease inside?”
“You want me to invite a vampire into my home.” I waggled my eyebrows and just looked at him. Like, really?
He giggled low in his throat, tickled that I’d found him out so quickly. “But surely you’re not afraid?”
I shrugged. “Not afraid. Just not stupid.”
He spread his hands again, a self-deprecating gesture. “It was just a . . . cordial suggestion, Taz.”
“Well, could I offer you something to drink?” I smiled this time. “In the spirit of cordiality, of course.”
It was quite interesting how his eyes flared red. I hadn’t been 100 percent certain where they were until they did.
Annnnnd apparently I’d ticked him off.
The Christi
an and the Vampire: A Short Story
About the Author
Vikki Kestell’s passion for people and their stories is evident in her readers’ affection for her characters and unusual plotlines. Two often repeated sentiments are, “I feel like I know these people” and “I’m right there, in the book, experiencing what the characters experience.”
Vikki holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Learning and Instructional Technologies. She left a career of twenty-plus years in government, academia, and corporate life to pursue writing full time. “Writing is the best job ever,” she admits, “and the most demanding.”
Also an accomplished speaker and teacher, Vikki and her husband Conrad Smith make their home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
To keep abreast of new book releases, visit her website, http://www.vikkikestell.com/, or find her on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/TheWritingOfVikkiKestell.
Wild Heart on the Prairie (A Prairie Heritage, Book 2) Page 35