Desert Captive (Doc Beck Westerns Book 4)
Page 8
The ride was quiet and long, but they finally rolled up the graveled road leading to the two-story mansion Rebekah had known since childhood. The white columns supporting the wide front porch were due for a new coat of paint and the house was weather worn—but she had never seen a more beautiful sight.
Rebekah grabbed the buggy frame, blood pulsing through her temples. She didn’t know why she was both anxious and thrilled.
Before Laramie pulled the horses to a complete stop, Rebekah held her skirt close and sprang from the buggy. She landed on the walkway, giving no backward glance to her medical bag. She didn’t need it for that moment.
An aging gentleman with a soft, dignified expression stood on the porch. He unhooked his thumbs from his vest pockets and came down the steps as though he were twenty years younger than his age.
For all her pent up energy of finally being there, Rebekah couldn’t move. She stood by the buggy, arms limp at her sides.
Doctor Robert T. McKinnon came to a halt before her, his eyes brimming with tears. He engulfed her in a hug like they had never shared before.
His strength filled Rebekah’s arms and she raised them to return the embrace, laying her head against his shoulder. She inhaled the scents of woodsmoke and earth on his leather vest. It brought out memories of the Omaha Reservation, and her parents, and school, and a whole lifetime.
She closed her eyes and whispered into his vest, “I’m home, Uncle Robert.”
Dearest reader,
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Thank you for reading Desert Captive (Doc Beck Westerns Book 4). I truly hope it entertained and delighted you!
If you fell in love with the main characters, Rebekah, aka “Doc Beck,” and Jimmy, you’ll be excited to know there are more books to come!
Meanwhile, I’d be thrilled if you took a moment to write your thoughts in the form of a review for Desert Captive and post it on your favorite retail outlet and Goodreads. You’ll help other readers find this series.
To discover more of my books, free short stories, and to generally stay in touch with me, I invite you to join my VIP reader newsletter. You’ll receive a free copy of The Executions, book one in my historical fiction Choctaw Tribune series. Please join me here.
Speaking of history, the character of Doc Beck was inspired by Dr. Susan La Flesche (Omaha), who is hailed as the first American Indian to earn a medical degree. In continued research, my mother found Dr. Isabel Cobb (Cherokee), the first woman physician in Indian Territory, in very nearly the same years as Dr. La Flesche.
Lastly, if you’re not familiar with my heritage books based on my Choctaw history and culture, you can check them out on my website.
Questions? Send them my way: me@sarahelisabethwrites.com
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—Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer
Historical Fiction and Western author
Tribal member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Also by Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer
CANYON WAR (DOC BECK WESTERNS BOOK 1)
Traveling the West as a female physician, 34-year-old Doctor Rebekah LaRoche is no stranger to trouble. But on her way to New Mexico Territory, an unexpected stay in Amarillo, Texas, leads to confrontation with the Baxter clan – four brothers bred for trouble – and finds Rebekah in deep trouble.
Cattle rancher Clem Baxter's private war over grazing rights in the Palo Duro Canyon turns disastrous, and when the dust settles, one of the Baxter brothers is hurt bad. Clem sends for a doctor, not a woman, but that's what he gets when Rebekah, known as "Doc Beck," arrives at the ranch.
Now held at Clem's ranch against her will, Rebekah must plot to flee through the night with her young friend into the dangers and beauty of the Palo Duro Canyon.
Of Omaha Indian and French descent, Rebekah has always relied on her wits to get her out of any situation. But does that include facing down men willing to die—and kill—for a wild piece of land just as dangerous as any bullet?
Canyon War is available on multiple retailer sites.
♦♦♦
MISSION BANDITS (DOC BECK WESTERNS BOOK 2)
The Mexican army, a town marshal, and the Sancho Guerra gang are facing off when Doctor Rebekah LaRoche and her new friend, Jimmy, arrive in Zapata, New Mexico Territory. The bandits are holding hostages at Hope Academy, a school for girls located in an old mission outside of town, and Rebekah feels compelled to act—she was sent to the school to modernize the infirmary, not see the innocent occupants murdered.
The notorious and charismatic bandit, Sancho Guerra, led his band of men on a pillaging spree from Mexico to the mission and has proven his indifference to killing, prepared for any tricks the army or the Zapata town marshal throw at him.
But he isn’t prepared for Rebekah, and now the Mexican army colonel wants her to do something terrifying—enter the mission and help with the capture of the deadliest men in the territory.
Mission Bandits is available on multiple retailer sites.
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GRAVE ROBBERS (DOC BECK WESTERNS BOOK 3)
“You swing just as high for killing one as you do three.”
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Called on to perform an autopsy for a murder case, Doctor Rebekah LaRoche and Just Jimmy find themselves as unlikely detectives in a town with too many secrets.
One of the bandits who held the old mission and Rebekah hostage is accused of murdering Ruby Palmer, a young woman who took some of those secrets with her in death. When Rebekah discovers them during the autopsy, she must fight to prove her former captor is innocent. But she soon learns truth isn’t something this town welcomes.
There isn’t one straight shooter in the lot—the corrupt sheriff, judge, and leading townsmen are ready to lynch the bandit with hardly a trial. The only man Rebekah partly trusts is Deputy Thad Biggins. But what secret is driving him?
With the whole town against her, Rebekah finds herself at a crossroads: Let the bandit guilty of many crimes hang for one he didn’t commit; or prove his innocence by robbing Ruby Palmer’s grave.
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Grave Robbers is available on multiple retailer sites.
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THE EXECUTIONS (CHOCTAW TRIBUNE SERIES, BOOK 1)
Who would show up for their own execution?
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It’s 1892, Indian Territory. A war is brewing in the Choctaw Nation as two political parties fight out issues of old and new ways. Caught in the middle is eighteen-year-old Ruth Ann, a Choctaw who doesn’t want to see her family killed.
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In a small but booming pre-statehood town, her mixed blood family owns a controversial newspaper, the Choctaw Tribune. Ruth Ann wants to help spread the word about critical issues but there is danger for a female reporter on all fronts—socially, politically, even physically.
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But what is truly worth dying for? This quest leads Ruth Ann and her brother Matthew, the stubborn editor of the fledgling Choctaw Tribune, to old Choctaw ways at the farm of a condemned murderer. It also brings them to head on clashes with leading townsmen who want their reports silenced no matter what.
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More killings are ahead. Who will survive to know the truth? Will truth survive?
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The Executions is available on multiple retailer sites.
♦♦♦
TRAITORS (CHOCTAW TRIBUNE SERIES, BOOK 2)
“Someone’s going to be king in this territory.
No reason it can’t be me. It sure won’t be you.”
Betrayed.
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Someone is tearing at the fabric of the Choctaw Nation while political turmoil, assassinations, and feuds threaten the very sovereignty of the tribe. It stands under the U.S. government’s scrutiny.
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When heated words turn to hot lead, Ruth Ann Teller—a mixed-blood Choctaw—fears losing her brother who won’t settle for anything but the truth. Matthew is determined to use his newspaper, the Ch
octaw Tribune, to uncover the scheme behind Mayor Thaddeus Warren’s claim to the townsite of Dickens. Matthew is willing to risk his newspaper—and his life—to uncover a traitor among their Choctaw people.
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But when Ruth Ann tries to help, she causes more harm than good—especially after the mayor brings in Lance Fuller, a schoolteacher from New York. How does this charming yet aloof young man fit into the mayor’s scheme?
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When attacks against the newspaper strike and bullets fly, a trip to the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 is the answer they need to save the Choctaw Tribune. The trip holds a key to Matthew’s investigation.
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But Ruth Ann must find the courage to face a journey to the White City—without her brother.
Traitors is available on multiple retailer sites.
♦♦♦
SHAFT OF TRUTH (CHOCTAW TRIBUNE SERIES, BOOK 3)
“Nothing to it but a stout heart.”
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On a mission to bring justice to the outlaw gang that murdered his father and brother, Matthew Teller leaves the Choctaw Tribune newspaper for his sister to operate and plunges into an unfamiliar world of darkness and danger. Working inside the coal mines of the Choctaw Nation—one of the most dangerous places in the country—he searches for a man who may have the answers to this six-year-old mystery. But after Matthew uncovers an earth-shattering truth that rocks him to his core, he must decide what right is, and what price he is willing to pay for it.
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Ruth Ann Teller knows she can handle publishing the Choctaw Tribune—until she loses their biggest advertiser. Now, with Matthew miles away and the future of the newspaper resting squarely on her shoulders, Ruth Ann must make a bold move to keep the newspaper afloat in her brother’s absence. She sets it on a course for new success or total disaster.
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Striking coal miners. Outlaw gangs. An unsolved crime. And a Choctaw family that fights for one another, and for truth.
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Shaft of Truth (Choctaw Tribune Series, Book 3) is available on multiple retailer sites.
♦♦♦
ANUMPA WARRIOR: CHOCTAW CODE TALKERS OF WORLD WAR I
The day I betrayed Isaac, I vowed never again to speak my native language in front of white men.
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When America enters the Great War in 1917, Bertram Robert Dunn and his Choctaw buddies from Armstrong Academy join the army to protect their homes, their families, and their country. Hoping to find redemption for a horrible lie that betrayed his best friend, B.B. heads into the trenches of France—but what he discovers is a duty only his native tongue can fulfill.
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War correspondent Matthew Teller is ready to quit until an encounter with a fellow Choctaw sets him on a path to write the untold story of American Indian doughboys. But entrenched stereotypes and prejudices tear at his burning desire to spread truth.
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With the Allies building toward the greatest offensive drive of the war, the American Expeditionary Forces face a superior enemy who intercepts their messages and knows their every move. Can the solution come from a people their own government stripped of culture and language?
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Anumpa Warrior is available on multiple retailer sites.
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TOUCH MY TEARS: TALES FROM THE TRAIL OF TEARS
For this collection of short stories, Choctaw authors from five U.S. states came together to present a part of their ancestors’ journey, a way to honor those who walked the trail for their future. These stories not only capture a history and a culture, but the spirit, faith, and resilience of the Choctaw people.
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Tears of sadness. Tears of joy. Touch and experience them.
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Touch My Tears is available on multiple retailer sites.
♦♦♦
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TUSHPA’S STORY (Touch My Tears Collection)
“Protect the book as you do our seed corn. We must have both to survive.”
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The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek changed everything. The Choctaw Nation could no longer remain in their ancient homelands.
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Young Tushpa, his family, and their small band embark on a trail of life and death. More death than life lay ahead.
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On their journey to a new homeland, the faith of his father and one book guide Tushpa as he learns what it means to become a man and a leader.
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But before long, betrayal from within and without rip at the unity of the band. Can Tushpa help keep his tattered people together? Or will they all be lost to sickness of the mind, body, and spirit on the four hundred mile walk?
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A continuation of the anthology Touch My Tears: Tales from the Trail of Tears, this story follows an original manuscript written by Tushpa’s son, James Culberson.
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Tushpa’s Story is available on multiple retailer sites.
About the Author
SARAH ELISABETH SAWYER is a story archaeologist. She digs up shards of past lives, hopes, and truths, and pieces them together for readers today. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian honored her as a literary artist through their Artist Leadership Program for her work in preserving Choctaw Trail of Tears stories. A tribal member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, she writes historical fiction from her hometown in Texas, partnering with her mother, Lynda Kay Sawyer, in continued research for future works. Learn more at SarahElisabethWrites.com, Facebook.com/SarahElisabethSawyer
DESERT CAPTIVE
Desert Captive © 2021 by Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer
All rights reserved.
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RockHaven Publishing
P.O. Box 1103
Canton, Texas 75103
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Scriptures taken from the Authorized King James Version, Holy Bible. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and unintentional.
This book details the author’s personal experiences with and opinions about various medical conditions. The author is not a healthcare provider. The author and publisher are providing this book and its contents on an “as is” basis and make no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to this book or its contents. The author and publisher disclaim all such representations and warranties, including for example warranties of merchantability and healthcare for a particular purpose. In addition, the author and publisher do not represent or warrant that the information accessible via this book is accurate, complete or current.
Editor: Lynda Kay Sawyer
Cover Design: Mollie E. Reeder
Author Photo by R. A. Whiteside. Courtesy of the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution