Call to Arms
Page 43
An hour or so after they had finished the wedding breakfast, someone brought word from Culpeper that President Lincoln had been assassinated. He had gone to the theater the preceding evening in Washington and had been shot in the back of the head, dying in the small hours of the morning. The news was stunning, unbelievable. It seemed almost sacrilegious to go on with the wedding celebrations; the news cast a pall of gloom across the entire household. No one knew what to do, what to say. They looked at Jed, sitting at the head of the table where old David had sat, as if waiting for him to tell them. His gaze went from face to face: Sam, tired, gray, old. Jessica, her lovely eyes on the man she loved. Pasty-faced Henry, his piggy eyes unreadable behind the thick lenses of his spectacles. Louise, stern and unbending. His brother, Andrew, matured by experience, confident and secure. He will carry on here, Jed thought. I can go away and know it will be in good hands. He smiled at them all and reached out to touch Maria’s hand. She nodded, understanding.
Maybe Pa was right, he thought. Maybe the others are all here, too, watching us: Grandpa Davy, Big Jed, Aunt Abby, Travis. And you, Pa? He remembered again the Latin phrase that had come into his mind that day in the cemetery up on the hill above the house. Non omnis moriar: I shall not altogether die. That, at least, would be true. That, if nothing else, was something they could all face the future with. He got to his feet.
‘Let us first thank God that we are gathered here safely today,’ he said slowly. ‘And remember those who were here before us, and those who have still to come. We have all been soldiers, one way or another. We have all fought wars and there is not one of us they have not marked. So let me ask this now of all of you, as we mourn the death of a great man. Let this be the end of it. Let there be no more wars!’
And solemnly, those who were left of the Strong family raised their glasses in a toast to the end of war. And to the future.
CALL TO ARMS TRILOGY 2: BLIND DUTY
By Frederick Nolan
First Published by Bantam Books in 1984
Copyright © 1983, 2018 by Frederick Nolan
First Smashwords Edition: April 2018
Names, characters and incidents in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information or storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.
Our cover features The Parting, painted by Don Stivers.
You can check out more of Don’s work here.
This is a Piccadilly Publishing Book
Series Editor: Mike Stotter
Text © Piccadilly Publishing
Published by Arrangement with the Author.
About the Author
Frederick Nolan, a.k.a. 'Frederick H. Christian', was born in Liverpool, England and was educated there and at Aberaeron in Wales.
He decided early in life to become a writer, but it was some thirty years before he got around to achieving his ambition. His first book was The Life and Death of John Henry Tunstall, and it established him as an authority on the history of the American frontier.
Later he founded The English Westerners' Society. In addition to the much-loved Frank Angel westerns, Fred also wrote five entries in the popular Sudden series started by Oliver Strange - all publishing by Piccadilly Publishing.
Among his numerous non-western novels is the best-selling The Oshawa Project (published as The Algonquin Project in the US) which was later filmed by MGM as Brass Target. A leading authority on the outlaws and gunfighters of the Old West, Fred has scripted and appeared in many television programs both in England and in the United States, and authored numerous articles in historical and other academic publications.
He has his own website
Book One: A PROMISE OF GLORY
A PROMISE OF GLORY is a monumental saga of men whose lives were ruled by honesty and passion — and whose dreams would change the history of the world.
Davy Strong was penniless, friendless and as raw and green as the vast frontier itself when he arrived in Boston in the winter of 1775. But within a few harrowing, tumultuous months Davy Strong would be one of the first of a new breed of men. A man caught between the old world and the new; between the loyalties of tradition and the loyalties of the heart. This is his story – and the story of the women who loved him: the hot-blooded Isabella, who took what she wanted, but who couldn’t control her young lover; her strong-willed daughter, Martha, who could forgive him anything, even loving her own mother; and the Indian girl who lay buried in the wilderness with all his boyhood dreams.
Book One of the Call to Arms series
Book Two: BLIND DUTY
The Strong family has grown and prospered, as has the land they have helped to build. From the explorations of Lewis and Clark to nineteenth century politics, from the siege of the Alamo to the War of 1812, the Strongs have been at the forefront of American life.
But now a new war has come. One which will divide the family as it divides the nation, brother against brother, loyalty against pride and which will the test the strength of each man as it tests the foundations of country as a whole.
Published April 08, 2018
Book Three: FIELD OF HONOR
It began with an illicit love affair ... and became a feud that threatened a family's ruin.
These were the decades which shaped a nation. Decades of bloodshed and ambition that turned America from a backward land of farmers into one of the most greatest powers on Earth.
And this is the story of two families whose greed and dreams, loves and passions, loyalties and betrayals helped shape those decades.
NB: This was first release under the name of Danielle Rockfern
Published May 08, 2018
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