Starting #ExcerptWeek with the opening pages of my current WIP, Harbinger, book three of my #WakeRobinRidge series. This is a totally unrevised or edited draft, and will probably be shorter and tighter by the time it makes the book, but I thought it might be fun to share something no one else has seen (except my wonderful beta readers). Enjoy!

Early June, 1994
North Carolina Mountains
~~~ 

With a loud whoosh, the doors on the big, yellow bus pulled closed, and it rumbled away down the graveled, two-lane highway, leaving the shrieks and laughter of the last few kids hanging on the air behind it. Sissy Birdwell stood on the dusty berm, waving goodbye to friends she wouldn’t see again until the fall, and watched the bus disappear around the curve. 

Reluctant to start the mile-long trudge up the narrow, red dirt road toward her home, she kicked aimlessly at a few pebbles and twigs. Part of her was happy her mother had finally agreed she was old enough to walk home alone. After all, she was eight years old now, and certainly able to find her way to their house, which sat at the very end of the uphill track. But part of her shivered at the thought of the lonely, winding road ahead, which curved up and up through the thick woods until it reached their clearing near the top of the ridge.

She would never tell her mama this, but in her heart, the dark beneath the trees scared her. She was afraid of bears. And coyotes. And snakes. And lots of other things that might decide they wanted to share the road with her on an early June afternoon. But nobody in the whole Birdwell family would understand that. Not even the women. They’d been part of these mountains forever, and she was sure nothing scared them at all.

Squaring her shoulders, she scolded herself soundly. You’re the one who said she was a big girl. Mama woulda been here to meet you, if you hadn’t begged. Standin’ here bein’ scairt, is dumb. Dark’ll catch up with you, if you poke along too much, an’ that wouldn’t be no fun at all. Even for a big girl.

With that thought in mind, she trudged up the drive toward home, refusing to look at the dusty trees and bushes that crowded close on either side. Instead, she pictured the litter of sweet, new pups their hound had presented them with last week, and tried to guess if any might have opened their eyes today. Continue reading →