St. Bartholomews is consolidating its orphanage, but the children don't want to be separated. They come up with an alternative plan to present to the church council but then the women of Dancing Deer bring the orphan girls into their homes for the holidays. The boys leave on their own in the snow and spend a night with a burdened bank robber in a desolate cabin.
About the Author: As an accountant in a small West Texas town, I spend my days studying the bank statements and tax returns of other people's businesses. I classify, summarize, and display their financial transactions in some meaningful format. I love creating order out of chaos. I'm middle-aged and twice married--with the second blessed from heaven. Four grown children, their children, two bobbing tails of barking energy, and one sly cat round out my cache of treasure. Over the years, I have owned and operated two boutique retail stores, several service businesses. one ranch, and one restaurant. I have been prosperous and poor, with wild fluctuations in between. At present, being neither rich nor destitute, I consider my status as deeply entrenched in middle class--a term bandied about by politicians and economists. In an effort to restore my youth, I purchased an old sofa on two wheels. For the past ten years. Since that initial existential groping, I have occasionally strapped sacks of clothes, maps, and a compass that doesn't seem to work onto the back cushion. After kissing my wife. I set out for adventure and story. Usually, after only a week or so, I realize what I left behind was more important than what I set out to find and drive a day and a night hell-bent-for-leather back home. I then settle into an old and comfortable routine. I read a few books, attend a few plays, daydream of new horizons, and plan my next adventure. I kept a journal on my first excursion. It was such an exhilarating experience: rewriting the journal and incorporating the pictures that I became intoxicated to the point I wrote a novel. At present, with pen on fire, I have just finished my eighth book--actually swimming in untested waters by writing one for young adults. I'll win prestigious awards and be asked to speak at the local library if someone would read what I have written. If you're looking for an evening spent with colorful and mesmerizing characters, if you want to immerse yourself in a rollicking good story, enthrall yourself to the point of madness, go two days without bathing, then have I got a book for you.