Horizon-Dawn

By Carl Schuler

Man must play "the hand" random-dealt at the "table-of-life". Book I begins a tale in pale light of "Horizon-dawn" as the sheriff of a late1800''s frontier town performs his habitual mundane ritual scripted as "just another day" not suspecting the monotony obfuscated changes he could neither have contemplated nor accepted. As the law-dog enjoyed the view across the dirt street, past his brother''s bank to the second floor window of lovely sister-in-law Byrne backlighted by a bedroom lantern, his pleasant reverie was rudely interrupted by the arrival of a lone rider plodding down the dimly lit Main Street; his ""law"-mind took control forcing the sheriff to contemplate the most unusual occurrence. Resolving to check on the mysterious stranger''s early appearance, he returned his attentions to Byrne''s activities only to find the window dark; he had squandered his opportunity. Smallish Van Gangenberg on the river in the land of the Otoe Indian nation on the lush emerald prairie of "Nebraska", the Native American word for "Flat water"; named for its founder, and benefactor, Ezra Van Gangen, the pioneer settlement thrived, growing leaps and bounds under the "peaceful" environment secured by the law''s strict authority. Ezra had been one of the first "white" men to lay eyes on the vast green ocean of verdant emerald undulating waves of grass. The frontiersman immediately recognized myriad opportunity in the natural resource of the territory and laid claim to land as far as the eye could see---and...well beyond. Bringing cattle north from the Texas country, he founded a great empire over which the pioneer reigned as a "King". Sheriff Adrian carried the "Baron''s" name, but, not the "Royal" blood. Ezra had killed the lawman''s biological father in a "fight-to-the-death" encounter. In those early days "law" determination sprang from strength of character, tenacity, and, more often, from the "fastest" gun. Such "accommodations" in the latter years of the nineteenth century would mostly be ignored as the serious business of simple survival for most people; grievances were generally quickly settled with fists, shootings, arrests, incarcerations, occasional hangings and---sometimes...cold blooded murder. "King" Ezra pretty much had "Paradise" on a silver platter with reputation, an empire, money, power. A world of his own choosing in his own time and own way. Such "Royal-elite" seldom consider the always present rebel, rascal, rogue who cares nothing of the "celebrity" self-proclaimed fame or, even, of the reality of their desires. When Ezra murdered one of his hired hands in cold blood, little did he expect the event to lead to the total destruction of all that he had amassed. "Some" folks---You just don''t mess with! In the end, Mother Nature reclaims her dignity taking back the land which some interloper had insulted for his own intention with pernicious purpose. The "native" had Honored the land for centuries, preserving the natural resources while living the Freedom born of Liberty in a simple culture and society; along came the intruder---and..."civilized?" the "savage?!" So it seems: "Justice" prevails! The "Good" guys win! One hundred and fifty-some years after the demise of a frontier-kingdom, Book II offers the reader a look into "modern" man with focus on an Independent-Individual suffering the tragedy of losing his spouse of half a century; realization of unresolved past transgressions leads him to redress those errant sins setting the widower on a quest to "right" his misdeeds, thus regaining "Camelot" and earning "Salvation!", once more. Within several years timespan, the man manages to salve old wounds, set the "record" straight allowing him to complete a "noble" life of endearing Praise! Honor! Glory! to his personal mantra: Faith! Family! Freedom! In reflective-conclusion, it seems to matter not "when" one lives, but more importantly "how" time through space is occupied. "Fate" is the hunter; "Love" is the trophy. God bless! Amen!

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1521288151
• ISBN13: 9781521288153
• Release Date: May 2017
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 230 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 6.0"