When an ice storm nearly destroys Angel's hometown, how will she restore the Spirit of Christmas to the Piney Woods? She is paid a visit by the spirit of her husband to help her move on without him, while creating a life for more than her own children.
Set deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas Angel is orphaned as a young child. Raised by an Indian Elder she learns what it means for family to not always be related by blood, but rather by love. When a terrible ice storm takes her husband, she is left alone to learn how to create a new life for herself and her children without him. Less than a year after his death she is faced with yet another ice storm which nearly destroys the entire town. How will she restore the Spirit of Christmas to the Piney Woods while she is about to bring another child into the world? She is paid a visit by the spirit of her husband to help her move on without him, while creating a new life for more than her own children.
Excerpt
Angel prayed silently about crossing the old rope bridge. It was one thing to cross with only the weight of her and her children in the buck-board, but now there were three adults and a total of twenty-three children to get across that bridge. She debated if she should take them on down river another three miles to the old ferry barge, but it would be dark by the time they got home and she knew the coyotes would be on the prowl. She was really starting to hurt in her lower back and thought she'd be better off walking for a spell. She rubbed her lower back and stretched trying to work some of the stiffness out.
When they came to the bridge, Mike and Missy gasped.
Mike said, "Surely, we're not crossin’ that thing!"
Missy cried, "There's no way that thing will hold!"
Angel said simply, "We're gonna have to walk it a few at a time. It held us earlier, but now there's a good bit more ice on it weighing it down. Mike, you take two across and wait with them for Missy to cross with two more. Take an older child and a younger one with each trip, until we have all of us across. That way, if you get into trouble, you'll have an older one to help out. Now, get movin’! We have to be across with the wagon before dark!"
That old bridge rocked and creaked with each step they took, and I held my breath in fear that any one of them may fall.
They finally had all the kids across with no mishaps, now all that was left to do, was driving the buckboard across the bridge. Angel unhooked most of the harnesses, so she could easily free the horses, if she needed to. They could pull the wagon with only one line, since there were no passengers.
Angel walked beside the old mare and said, "Come on, ‘ole girl. I know you'll get us across."
The kids, Mike and Missy watched anxiously from the other side as Angel led the horses across. Angel's foot went through a weak board and had she not been holding onto Molly's bridle, she probably would have fallen through the bridge. As it was, it pulled Molly off step and her back hoof went through a board. She quickly recovered while everyone on the bank watched in terror! Mike ran across the bridge with a rope he'd tied to a tree and to his waist, carrying another rope that he also tied to his waist and round Angel, to get her off that bridge. I was powerless to help her and could do nothing, but yell for Mike to hurry and even that was futile.
About the time he reached her, a cougar growled from behind the buckboard. He was crouched low, to pounce on the team. Molly and the bay gelding balked for a moment and then set off at a trot, pulling Angel and nearly knocking Mike off the bridge. Thankfully, Mike had tied the rope ‘round Angel because another board gave way. Angel lost her grip on Molly's bridle and went through the floor of the bridge.
While pulling her back up Mike noticed the cat about to pounce on them, just before a Bowie knife flew over his head and straight into the heart of the cougar. He turned to see Ray ridin’ Choctaw hell bent for leather up to the bridge, dismounting at a run to grab Angel, before she collapsed.
I would've died right then and there from a heart seizure, had I not already been dead!
"Mike, go calm those horses and get them kids loaded! I gotcha, Baby. We're gonna get you home." He laid Angel in the back of the wagon and told Missy to watch her.
Missy screamed, "Oh my God! Ray, you're covered in blood!"
"Jesus, she's bleeding! We've got to get her home, quick! Missy, turn her on her left side, to slow the contractions and prop her feet up above her head on that bale of hay, to get her blood pressure up. Keep her covered. We'll be ridin’ hard and fast. Let me know if her condition worsens, or if we need to stop." Ray ordered.
I kept screaming, "Ray, hurry!" They made it the rest of the way to the farm and Hawk Eye had the big house lit up with candles, lanterns and smoke coming from the chimney. He knew the children wouldn't all fit in the cabin. He had supper cooking and had begun decorating the house for Christmas. When he saw Ray carrying Angel inside, he spread a quilt on the table for him to lay her down.
"There's too much blood and she's burnin’ up!" Ray announced to Hawk Eye.
***
Ray came running downstairs when he heard Angel scream and he heard what Hawk Eye said. He wanted to go for help, but didn't want to leave in case he had to help Hawk Eye. He'd been a Corpsman in the Marines and assisted in the operating room.
When Mike came down, he asked him if he would ride into town and get the fire department to call life flight. He knew it was called the "fair weather ambulance service", but he knew that Charley Hubert (A-bear) was a fighter pilot and would fly anywhere he needed to go to get someone to safety or for appropriate medical care.
Mike was out the door like a shot, riding Choctaw into town through the dark forest. Thank God that horse knew his way around, because Mike couldn't see spit and all he could do was hold on after he told Choctaw they had to get into town to get help for Angel. At least it had quit snowing and sleeting for the time being.
He just gave Choctaw his head and held on tight as Choctaw took him on a short cut that only he seemed to know of. Choctaw jumped over felled trees and small buttes, taking hair turns round trees, running through the creek and scrambling up the steep sides of an embankment. Mike thought surely he was going to fall and was really glad that he could hardly see where they were going.
At least until Choctaw came to what appeared to be a small gulley when the clouds parted and Mike could see how steep a drop it was in the full moonlight. It looked to be a thousand feet deep, but that horse showed he was a true Mustang when he didn't even bother slowing down, but ran head long straight over that cliff, while Mike yelled, "Oh Sheittt! Ya gotta be kidding me!
Choctawwwwwwwww!"
Once off the drop, Mike could clearly see the trail which forked onto the red dirt road leading into town.
Professional Reviews
Old time story telling at it's best!
"Old Time storytelling at it's best"
Eilish Frazier intentionally writes in an uneducated back woods grammar, influenced and consistent with an East Texas backdrop, and Native American influences. "A Piney Wood Christmas" is old time story telling that allows the reader to dive into the heart of each character as they develop.
As a first time reader of Ms. Frazier's books, I enjoyed being immediately drawn into the lives of this East Texas family - each member struggling to find purpose after tragedy; of family bonds and a renewal of faith - all woven into a heartwarming story that came alive for me, page after page. Ms. Frazier's outspoken faith as well as her disdain for the commercialism of Christmas, colors "A Piney Wood Christmas."
At a time, when an avalanche of books are being written that make the brain ache in its attempt to arrive at the finish line, "A Piney Wood Christmas," is an easy read, utterly unsophisticated and lacking in guile. For those of us who enjoy a book with a straight story line, where good triumphs over evil, where running for an Excedrin and making ten trips to Webster's Dictionary, or worse still, Roget's Thesaurus in order to grasp the obvious, isn't an option - this is a book for you too. I'll read the sequel ... for sure. Jennifer Brookins
A simply delightful story of love and acceptance
Family love, acceptance of others, and hope all come together in this book. Ms Frazier writes in an old fashioned style that one envisions sitting by a warm fireside listening to the stories being told by a beloved family member in a simpler time.
While this book may not appeal to everyone, I found the use of dialect effective in the story telling and it brought the characters to life in a charming way that we rarely see in book written today. R.K. Finnell
Ghosts and Afterlife with a Twist
Eilish Frazier takes the subject of ghosts and the afterlife and puts a whole new twist on it - one that leaves you wanting more. How refreshing to read this subject from the perspective of the dearly departed. Great job, Ms. Frazier, and I hope to read more from you soon. Lynny Prince
Welcome to Hell on Earth, boys.
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