Mini-Interview with Jodi Auborn about Secrets of the North Country (news) with Jodi L Auborn on AuthorsDen

Kat’s adventures continue in this sequel to “Stormwind of the North Country,” when Jake is accused of a crime that he didn’t commit and becomes a fugitive running from the law.

Since Kat’s father is working out of town for a month, her insufferable Aunt Betsy moves in. Meanwhile, Kat’s friend, Randy, and brother, Dave, find Jake wounded in the forest. After hearing his story, they decide to help him hide from the police and their aunt.

When the secret is revealed, circumstances force Jake and Kat to flee into the wilderness on her horse, Stormwind. When they return home, she and her family begin fighting against a corrupt cop who is determined to serve justice. As Kat witnesses the best and worst in the people she meets, she discovers who her true friends are, and just what it takes to keep them safe.

Can Kat and her family prove Jake’s innocence and expose the true criminal…without becoming his next victim?

Targeted Age Group:: 11 – 15

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
I started writing this sequel to “Stormwind of the North Country” when I was in high school in the mid-1990’s. I was inspired by the reports of an escaped convict who was loose in the area. I became fascinated by the man, who was said to be an expert outdoorsman, and imagined how he lived off the land and hid from the cops. He was eventually caught, but his escape had already given me plenty of story ideas! That’s when I began a book about Jake, a character from the first book, hiding from the police for a crime that he didn’t commit.

How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
Kat, the main character, is the narrator of this story, like she was in her previous book, “Stormwind of the North Country.” When a family friend, Jake, becomes the prime suspect in the assault of a young woman Kat knows, she is so upset by the news of the attack that she refuses to believe that Jake is innocent. When Kat finally realizes that her stubbornness and betrayal exposed Jake to danger and she risked losing her best friend, Randy, she knows that it’s up to her to make things right…

Jake was originally a train-hopping, Great Depression-esque hobo, but I later modernized him to a hitchhiker/backpacker/outdoorsman type. He ended up being my favorite character from the first book, so I wanted to give him a story of his own. His intimidating appearance and drifter lifestyle hide the fact that he’s a good, kind-hearted man, of intelligence and high education.

Kat’s prim and proper Aunt Betsy is based on a combination of my paternal grandmother, and an aunt. However, her wealth and over-the-top snobbishness is purely my imagination.

In the first book, Kat and her friend, Emily, had been growing apart as their lives changed over the summer. However, in this book Kat’s former friend soon becomes her enemy…

At first, I just made up the other characters to fulfill their respective roles in the story: Carson (a cruel and corrupt police officer,) Pierre (Aunt Betsy’s chauffeur,) Matthew Bence (the true criminal,) Dr. Strats (the court-appointed psychologist,) and other characters like the judge, lawyers, and Kat’s teachers. As I wrote about each person, though, their personalities grew and developed in ways that surprised me. Characters from the first book also appear, such as Kat’s male friend Randy, her father, Luke, and brother, Dave.

That night, Aunt Betsy almost went to pieces when she saw my sprained ankle. As if following Jake’s advice, she and Pierre rushed me to the local clinic, where I had to repeat my embarrassing story about my fall down the hill. I knew better than to mention the pond, and Hesperus, and hypothermia. Aunt Betsy was panicking enough without knowing that I’d fallen in the pond.

“Nothing is broken; it’s just a bad sprain,” the doctor said as he looked at an x-ray of my foot. “Just keep it elevated, and take it easy for awhile.”

I could have told him that, I thought. Aunt Betsy paid the doctor’s bill with her credit card, never even wincing at how expensive it was. But all the way home, she moaned and fretted about my “hazardous” life out here in the country, which encouraged me to do “dangerous” things like riding horses, or walking in the woods alone…and now, skiing. I only slumped back against the limo’s comfortable seat, exhausted, trying to ignore my lecturing aunt, as endless classical music droned out of the car’s stereo. It was several days before she even let me go out to the barn. Randy and Dave had had to feed the horses for me.

But the following Saturday, I sat on Stormwind at the edge of the summer cottage’s yard. It had taken me a little over an hour to ride out there. Over the past months, Stormwind and I had become a familiar sight in Sprucewood, as I trotted her through town just as casually as other kids rode their bikes. Nobody stopped or questioned me when we crossed the empty soccer field and followed the back trail to the cottage.

My injured foot, still wrapped in a bandage and jammed into my boot, throbbed with a slight ache as it rested in the stirrup. It had been a week since my fall in the pond, and I had hobbled painfully around the house for several days until the swelling had gone down. I could walk okay now, but I had to wait until Aunt Betsy left on another shopping trip, before I could escape out to the barn.

I urged Stormwind forward, walking calmly past the cedar hedge to a big wooden shed on the other side of the yard. There was plenty of room behind the shed where Stormwind could hide. I hoped that she’d behave herself and not try to untie her leadrope. A short time ago, she had learned that she could pull at the knot with her teeth and set herself free.

Careful to land on my good foot, I dismounted, tied up Stormwind, and walked toward the house. I had a story planned just in case anyone asked what I was doing — I was lost and trying to find the way back to town — but the place was as deserted as it had been when Emily was here with me. Even the snow was untouched. “Now or never,” I muttered as I reached in my pocket and touched the scrap of torn cloth that I had snitched from Jake’s backpack, when he was in the bathroom that morning.

I stepped up on the porch and pushed at the front door. It opened just as easily as it had a week ago.

I tried to console myself that I wasn’t breaking or entering…was I? I wasn’t going to steal anything, just inspect the jacket to see if the scrap of flannel fit over the torn out hole. And if someone else had already broken in, wasn’t I was just another visitor?

I knew that Jake would be mad and worried about me if he knew what I was doing. He’d tell me that I shouldn’t be here alone, taking a big risk of being caught in someone else’s house. But if I could prove that I found the true criminal and cleared Jake’s name, then I could earn Randy’s friendship again.

Even if I uncovered the evidence, though, I knew that I couldn’t go to the police with my find. They wouldn’t believe me if I told them that I did some important work here, trying to solve a crime and gather evidence. Instead, I would get in trouble for trespassing, or even worse, be accused of robbing the place. Jake, Randy, Dave, and I would all just have to figure out what to do next, without getting the cops involved.

I took a deep breath and crept across the living room, as the sun beamed through the big picture window and my breath clouded the chilly air. Without another thought, I spread the jacket over the recliner and laid the scrap of flannel over the jagged rip. The plaid pattern lined up just like a missing puzzle piece. It was a perfect fit.

Although I suspected that would happen, I stood and stared down at it for a moment, amazed at how everything was coming together. I almost wished that Jake and the boys were here to celebrate with me, but I knew that this was for me to do, alone. I had already caused enough problems for them. I wanted desperately to help them in some way, and make up for what I did...

Secrets of the North Country: The Hobo’s Story by Jodi Auborn