Fear Caller

Finalist for 2019 San Diego Book Awards Unpublished ManuscriptDeciding not to die is not the same as choosing to live . . .Ned Harper had just returned from the Civil War as a battle-wearied drummer boy, when an old Indian woman told him her people believe Rabbit is the Fear Caller. "His fears are so loud, they shout to the things he's most afraid 'Here I am Hawk, this is where I'm hiding Mountain Lion, come find me Arrow!' And his fears find him just as surely as yours will find you, if you do not quiet them."Now, shattered by tragedy, the young rancher is more afraid of living than dying. In 1875, summer in the Colorado Territories should have been a pleasant time for him―the wild berries were ripening, three of his mares were in foal, and the town barber had formed a rag-tag baseball team. All of which only added to Ned's deepening despair. Every day it becomes more difficult for him to resist the urge to walk into the woods and never come out. When he unleashes his rage and pain in a shameful act of violence, his spirit takes the first steps toward that dark forest.Years before, Ned had taken the Indian's words as the warning he knew they were meant to be, but nothing could have prepared him for what he would one day call to himself.And, deciding whether to live or die would be the least of his troubles.