Open Winter Beetle Blues Winters up here in the mountains of Idaho happen in various degrees of severity. This last one was what we call an open winter. That is, we experienced a fairly mild winter with few blizzards or cruel, relentless storms. The snow never got past two feet deep, and the temperatures never […]
BEST OPEN FACED PIE EVER Moose Monroe had just finished his supper of chicken fried steak with extra gravy on his french fries when he looked up and bellowed for the waitress to bring him a double helping of that open faced pie. It’s been a tradition with Moose to order pie with his meal whenever […]
NOTHING AT PEACE ABOUT HIM On a cool, April morning in the western mountains of north-central Idaho, I was surprised to see my neighbor, Dupree Davis, huffing beside his pickup truck, next to the gravel road, with sweat dripping off his face. He looked fit to be tied and all steamed up. Nothing at peace […]
LEAVE GOOD TRACKS I heard Willie Phillips was in town recently. But I didn’t get a chance to talk to him myself. He’s a fine hand at training horses and I had a question or two for him. But he was only in town a few hours, and nobody knew what direction he headed when […]
THE SPREAD’S OLD MAN I once worked on a big outfit called the Pleasant Valley Ranch. Every week a cowboy or two rolled up that long, dusty driveway in their beat up pickup to ask to see the old man about a job. Now, the old man was the owner of the spread and the […]
STIRRUP READINESS I was drinking coffee at the Drover’s Café when Leo McKinny moseyed in and asked about how I’m getting along with my building project. You see, I’ve been busy building a false front western village in the lots next to my house. The place is called Broken Arrow Crossing.* Well, Leo took an […]
The No-See-Ums Plagues In most books about the Old West, you seldom read about the bugs. Oh, there are great stories about bears, snakes, and mountain lions. But what about when the cowboys, prospectors, mountain men, and pioneers had to face the dreaded enemies of mosquitos, fleas, lice, gnats, and no-see-ums? Each of these little […]
Disciples and Nooning It The old journal I was reading told tales along the Oregon Trail in 1852. It said, “About twelve miles past the lower cutoff on the south side of the Snake River, we found a little shade and nooned it a couple hours.” Nooned it? A noun into a verb? What did […]
The Lowly Nighthawk Security You know, some names just have a good ring to them. They sound impressive. Take the term nighthawk, for instance. Why, that sounds like a sleek, fast, ferocious sportscar or motorcycle or high tech surveillance equipment with infrared scope. But on the cattle drives in the Old West, the nighthawk security […]
Nesters All Over the Place When ‘nester’ farmers first came into the wide open western range land, they were pretty much disliked. For the old-time cattlemen, they were an intrusion, not only on their business, but on the grandeur of the scenery. Instead of gazing across a wide plain of grass and sage, instead of […]
In the frame short story in this anthology, Ben and Marnie Pearson never intended to start a jewelry collection. But when they were given a box of leftover jewelry at an estate sale, they were intrigued by the colorful contents . . .
The sparkling jewels featured in this collection may have been passed down through generations or discovered accidentally, but each has its own unique short story. From diamonds to emeralds, opals to rubies, these stones have witnessed it all.
Here in The Jeweler's Heart are their fascinating tales told by seventeen of the talented novel writers of ChiLibris. For fans of inspirational fiction and heartwarming tales, The Jeweler's Heart is a treasure.
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