My latest WIP is set on Esperance and features Ben, the son of the village blacksmith, of Blacksmith’s Forge. His family and the Wills family have been friends far longer than Ben has been alive, and he has always been fond of Deborah, the eldest Wills daughter.
But something happened when he went away for a few years to finish training for his journeyman’s ranking. When he returned to his home village, she was distant, angry, and did her best to drive him away. While he was saddened by her demeanor, it was her choice.
Until her father chose to arrange a marriage for her. And his father suggested he go and talk to Mr. Wills about it.
How about an excerpt from Ben of Blackstone’s Forge?
“Come here, little girl,” he said, taking her into his arms. “Why didn’t
you come to me when I got back?”
“I was afraid of him, and afraid of how you would react. I thought you’d
never want to see me again.”
“Is that why you put on the wicked witch act?” he asked.
“Yes. I thought if I drove you away, I wouldn’t have to deal with any of this.”
Thinking back on growing up in the village, he had to shake his head.
“Deb, who has always been there for you?”
“You have, Ben.”
“And who has looked after you?”
“You again.”
“Who took the whipping for the window you broke out of old Mrs.
Covington’s front room?”
“I’m so sorry, Ben. I would have confessed.”
“Yes, but then you would have got the whipping, and I couldn’t stand seeing you cry.”
“I’m sorry.”
“And who climbed twenty feet up a damned tree to fetch down a kitten
who didn’t want to be rescued?” he demanded.
With a giggle, she admitted it was him.
“Yeah. And the little bastard tried to claw his way out of my shirt. All those
little claws hooked into my chest as he tried to climb out. I could have bled
to death.”
“Now, Ben, I got the disinfectant and washed all the scratches,” she
reminded him.
“Which was nearly as bad as the scratches. That stuff burned.”
“It wasn’t that bad. You were just being a baby. I put some healing ointment on afterwards.”
“Which did nothing for the pain, I might add.”
“You are such a wimp, Ben Blackstone.”
After a quiet moment of reflection, he looked over and said, “We had some fun, didn’t we?”
“We did.”
Watch for Blackstone’s Forge.
In the meantime, check out my other Esperance books on Amazon, Smashwords, or any major bookseller.
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