Kindle Edition Amazon Allison Kohn Author Category:  Historical Fiction ISBN-10:  1478384387 ISBN-13: 9781478384380 Price: $0.99 (eBook) Alice remembers the angels when Chester tries to kill her, Linda sets a fire, and Richard is learning more and more to wait on the Lord - the power that keeps him soaring in spite of trails and tribulations.  Richar is through with his schooling - academic, that is. Now it's time for the life lessons that will get him ready for his life work: that of a circut ridermthroughput the west coast. Rose wants her brother home, but God has other plans and he is delayed for awhile. Linda and her cousins are invited to a party that turns into an inferno. linda is guilty but doesn't acept the blame. Pearl feels guilty and runs away - all alone in the wilds where she meets up with a huge cat and is rescued by one of the Thomas family. Chester Thomas catch Alice, Linda, and Donna out riding and takes them to the cabin to kill them. That was where Alice remembered the angels - she spent some time in bed without a voice, but the angels saved the day. Excerpt Stephen and Larry rode silently for the most part as they made their way northeast to Oregon City and north to Vancouver. Larry was dreaming of the day when he would be free to return to the valley and Stephen was thinking of how good it would be to see Richard again and wondering what he was doing at that point in time. Richard hadn’t written home anything about the girl who had his heart for a while, but his father knew that his grown son would probably have faltered under the spell of someone of the female persuasion regardless of how difficult that would be for a young man under the protection of an all-male college. They took the narrow trail along the Columbia and camped the second night out about a quarter of the way between Vancouver and The Dales. They were just getting the fish they caught for supper cleaned and Stephen barely started a fire when two young bear cubs came strolling into camp. “Aren’t they cute? I wonder where … Uh, oh, I think we are in trouble,” Stephen dropped what he was doing as the mother bear came after her young. Her ears were pointed forward and a low rumbling growl came from her throat. She made short work of running her cubs back into the forest, and then she turned on Larry, the one who happened to be closest to the area where the cubs entered. He turned to run but she was on top of him before he could get very far. He felt her teeth just touch the calf of his leg and then he heard a loud whack and she snarled and whirled on Stephen. Stephen dropped the gun he hit the bear with as she pounced on him, sinking her teeth into his shoulder. With a desperate prayer in his heart, Larry grabbed the hatchet and hit her sharply on the nose over and over again until she dropped Stephen and turned on him again. Larry raised the hatchet above his head as the enraged bear stood on her hind legs and came after him, then with all of the power he had in his strong young arm, he swung it again and hit her harder than ever across her nose. To his relief she made a woof sound, turned, and ran back into the forest. Larry turned to Stephen. “Are you all right,” he asked, and then he noticed that his uncle’s shoulder was a bloody mess. “It’s all right,” Stephen assured him. “Better get that fire going before she decides to come back. Make it as big as you can.” Larry turned back to the fire and got it blazing, and adding more wood, made it into a bonfire while Stephen tried to get his shoulder to stop bleeding. Larry approached his uncle with what he hoped was a grateful smile, but his voice was still shaking and his smile made him look more like he was going to cry. “Here, let me take care of that,” he said. “It doesn’t look like she got any of the main arteries anyway,” he added with relief. “Praise God she didn’t get closer to your neck or your chest. I guess it could have been worse – you could have been laying down, in which case she would have got your chest first.” “Yes,” said Stephen through gritted teeth, “we have a lot to be thankful for, but we better get back on the trail and head back for Vancouver. How is your leg? Is it bad?” “No,” said Larry taking a clean shirt out of his saddle bag to use as a bandage for his uncle. “My leg isn’t bad, but can you ride? I wonder if we could just get away from this area and find shelter of some sort. We should probably find shelter on this trail instead of trying to get back to Vancouver tonight.” “Yes, I can ride,” said Steven standing up and swaying a little. “If you will just get the horses saddled for us, I’ll be all right. I’m surely glad they were tied or, as scared as they were, they probably would have bolted. Can you help me into the saddle?” He let a small groan escape from his weak lips as Larry helped him mount. “Now if we can stay on the trail tonight, we will both feel better by morning. Are you sure your leg is all right?” “Yes, I’m sure,” said Larry, but I hope for your sake that we find shelter before morning.” “I’ll make it,” Stephen assured him again, but with a smile this time. The smile was more like a grimace but Larry knew his uncle was trying to give him confidence, so he said, “Sure, you will make it all right.” Larry made a long torch and lit it before he put the fire out and climbed into his own saddle. He left the fish, rolled in leaves, near the blazing fire while he saddled the horses and got everything ready to go, so while they were riding he urged his uncle to eat a bite or two every little while and got enough into his own stomach to keep him through the night. They did ride all night because there was not even a shadow of a shack on the road. The torch burned itself out and they rode on, but the moon was full and unhindered by clouds, that night, and the trail was clear; so it wasn’t as bad as Larry feared. Stephen groaned faintly occasionally, but sat straight in his saddle and whenever Larry would ask him if he was okay, he would say, “Oh yes, I’m doing fine.” As the sun began to rise behind them, Stephen slumped in his saddle.

A Solid Read. Truly Authentic. Great Book To Spend Your Time With.
This was a great read for me. It truly reminded me of many of those adventure books and movies I devoured when I was a child. Adventure, relationships, family, lessons taught and lessons learned. Self reliance, a belief in something larger than one's self. Salvation and redemption. Uneven at times plotwise, but so what. The dialogue was authentic and believable as were all of the locations, scenery, and hardships. The author has done her research and knows her subject. I enjoyed it.

Another Grand read by this author
This is the 2nd novel from Allison that i have read. There seems to be a theme here with mid-west travel, the past, and scripture... Not my usual kind of read, in fact far from it, though it wasn't my usual kind of read i found it interesting. I had to remember it was way past as the ages of these Children, by today's standards, were talking about marriage, babies, husbands and such. There was some scripture quoting my characters especially as Theodore was learning the word. Young Alice and her decision that she surely would not be married, because she knew she would be unable to submit was a revelation to me. I wish some women a today would take that bold step... there was even some reference to the slavery that was going on around that time frame. I was glad the N word wasn't used though that would have probably been correct terminology for back then. I don't think i would of been able to read it if the N word was in it. There was a lot in the book that kept me reading, I don't know how I would have reacted had my children been injured as the young girls were. I think my faith would have been tested as well. Though it took place a long time ago I did connect to the book and its characters. The scripture readings were not over the top but correct for the characters in which were reciting them... Another great read by this author.

Christian fiction with a lot of heart
What this book is really about is a large Christian family living in Oregon during the western expansion. This novel and the characters within it are defined by their Christianity. the book does sustain a strong sense of morality and love, which will appeal to readers who seek parabolic fiction. As they face the ups and downs of life, they turn to prayer and scripture. Many of the characters are children (though I did struggle to nail down their ages), and the story frequently centers around the lessons they learn from their own errors and from their family, all leading to a greater understanding of the Bible. As such, the novel relies heavily on direct quotes from scripture. If you are looking for a story about a large loving family who regularly discuss and expand upon their Christian faith, than you will likely enjoy this novel.