A horrific blizzard was only the start of Stuart Brannon's troubles. For a man who didn't need another disaster, the fierce winter at Broken Arrow Crossing couldn't have come at a worse time.
Stuart Brannon lost his wife, baby son and his cattle. He abandoned his Arizona ranch sick with grief a year later … another Christmas. That’s when the vicious Colorado blizzard struck.
Half-frozen, Brannon stumbles into an isolated stage station at the Crossing where he finds a wounded prospector, an abused and pregnant Indian girl, and naive gold seekers. Drawn into their desperate plights, Brannon plunges into the dangerous mission to rescue a boy from Indians and becomes the target of an outlaw band.
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Sometime before darkness or death, Stuart Brannon must find Broken Arrow Crossing. He considered tying the red bandana around his left hand. The numb, bare flesh of three fingers stuck out from the stiff, worn leather glove. But his nose and ears felt worse. The sharp pain stage had ceased hours before, and now a dull, mind-deadening throb signaled real trouble.
Jerking the scarf up over his face, Brannon attempted to keep the blowing snow from slicing into his skin. His eyes, frost-covered and nearly frozen shut, strined to scout the blizzard for a trail.
With black hat tilted low, he saw very little. Brannon’s right hand jammed deep into a coat pocket. His left encircled the slim horn of the Visalia saddle. Reins laced through the second and third fingers. That much he could see, but couldn’t feel.
Sage plodded through the Colorado winter. The white blaze on his black nose pointed straight down. The howl of the sotrm muffled any other noise. The horse , the rider, creeping through the lifeless forest. Alone.
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Written in the tradition of western book series authors Louis L’Amour, Zane Grey and Luke Short, Hard Winter at Broken Arrow Crossing recreates the tumultuous Old West where good battles evil. But the conflicts Brannon faced are surprisingly modern. Why do bad things happen to good people? Would a good God allow suffering? How involved should a person get in another’s conflicts?
Other titles in The Stuart Brannon western book series novels include: False Claims at the Little Stephen Mine, Last Hanging at Paradise Meadow, Standoff at Sunrise Creek, Final Justice at Adobe Wells, and Son of an Arizona Legend. If you enjoy these western book series novels, you’ll also like the Code of the West western series with Tap Andrews. Start with Book 1 It’s Your Misfortune & None of My Own.
Center Point/Thorndike & Greenbriar Publishers. Formerly published by Crossway Books.
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