Shannon here: Sherry Shindelar shares her characters’ first meeting from her Historical Romance Novella, Wichita Path Sacrifice, which is included in the collection, Freed by the Frontier. Comment or answer the question in any post dated July 3rd – 31st to enter the drawing for an e-book copy of the novella collection, along with three other books. Deadline: Aug 8th, 11:59 am central time. Here’s Sherry:
Excerpt from Witchita Path Sacrifice by Sherry Shindelar:
Maggie had won the fight. She rose, her legs as wobbly as buffalo brains. The trilling of tongues filled the air. One of the warriors laughed.
She stumbled toward the outer circle. She had to get air, get away from them all. If only for a moment. Her whole body shook.
The people parted. Eyes downcast, she shuffled through. Her throat throbbed. She needed water. Her toe caught in a gopher hole, and she pitched forward. Someone grabbed her arm. A strong, steady hand, firm but gentle, halted her fall and righted her. A gold band encircled the man’s bicep. Two thick dark braids rested against his bare, muscular chest.
She gazed into the face of an almost stranger. His dark eyes held her. A visiting warrior, a guest of the war chief Fights-All-Day. She’d seen the visitor a couple of times from a distance. Never had she dared approach or lift her gaze to his. She dropped hers now and held her breath. Did he agree with the crowd, or would he condemn her? As a friend of Runs-All-Day, his word would carry weight.
His gaze locked onto hers, and his hand slipped away. “Go your way…Eyes-Like-Sky.”
The same voice that had been the first to announce “good”? She blinked up at him. What had he called her? Eyes-Like-Sky? She’d almost forgotten the color of her eyes.
He lifted his chin. A single eagle feather dangled from his scalp-lock.
“What did Dancing Eagle call her?” a boy asked.
“Eyes-Like-Sky,” Willow Woman, who’d more than once slipped Maggie food, answered. “A new name.”
Dancing Eagle turned with a shrug, and Maggie, Eyes-Like-Sky, wobbled toward the creek. A name. And he’d told her to go her way. She wouldn’t be strung up and tortured? Relief and a confluence of emotions she couldn’t name coursed through her.
Swiping grit from her face, she wove her way past tipi stakes, drying racks, and staked ponies. The murmur of voices faded behind her. Sagebrush scraped her legs and feet. Somehow, she’d lost her moccasins in the fight. The cover of trees enclosed her now. Mesquite and scrub oak yielded to a strand of cottonwood by the gurgling stream.
She dropped to her knees, allowing the cool water to pool around her. What had she done? Her right palm and finger pads throbbed, and so did her throat and head. Moisture filled her eyes. A quiet cry broke from her lips. Had she really defeated Crooked Cedar? For the day, or for good? Thank God, she hadn’t killed the woman. She herself could have died. She sniffled. Her whole body trembled. She plunged her swollen hands into the water, splashing her face and neck. Her breath scraped her throat with each inhale.
A horse nickered.
Eyes-Like-Sky started. She wasn’t alone. Swiping the back of her hand across her cheeks, she looked around. Crying would be seen as a weakness.
Downstream, through the low-hanging branches of a cottonwood, Dancing Eagle stood beside a black mustang, studying her. The buffalo-hair reins hung loosely in his hand.
She tensed. Her throbbing fingers flexed against her buckskin skirt. What did he want? Her heart pounded.
A chip, chip chirp of a red-winged blackbird sounded from higher in the tree above the gurgle of the creek.
A scrawny, outstretched branch scraped against Dancing Eagle’s shoulder as he stepped forward. The black mustang bobbed its head as it trailed along behind him. A gutted deer lay across the animal’s hindquarters, secured to the saddle with a rawhide rope.
Eyes-Like-Sky’s breath leaked from her lungs. She should rise, but her legs had as much strength as reeds. What if he’d come to collect a reward for turning the crowd in her favor?
He stopped by the gnarl of a root twenty or thirty feet away. His deep blue breechclout dangled against his fringed leggings. Both were made of finely prepared buckskin. He likely had a wife or two, or a devoted mother, to make such quality clothing for him. “You are uninjured?”
She nodded and wiped her nose. None of her injuries were worth mentioning to a warrior of his caliber.
He glanced toward the village. Smoke from the cook fires trickled above the treetops. “If she hits you again, you hit her. If you want to be one of the people, don’t let her walk on you.”
Did she want to be one of the people, part of the tribe? She didn’t want to be beaten again. She wanted to be respected. But what of her before life? “Thank you for helping me.”
He pivoted, drew his knife, and slit the knot securing the deer. The carcass shifted, and he tossed the animal onto the grass-covered ground. “Eat. Make yourself new clothes,” he said.
She blinked. He was giving her the deer? A prize usually reserved for kin, or a maiden who’d caught a warrior’s eye. She wasn’t the former, and she dare not dream of the latter…
Reader Question: Have you ever received a compliment that changed your life or the way you saw
yourself? What was the compliment?
July 2026 Book Bundle
Counting on the Cowboy by Shannon Taylor Vannatter, Contemporary Romance, print
A Light Dimmed by April W. Gardner, Biblical Fiction, e-book
The Amazing Crab Alley Revival by Sharon Wilharm, Historical Fiction, e-book
Freed by the Frontier, by Sherry Shindelar, Historical Romance, e-book
About Sherry: Originally from Tennessee, Sherry loves to take her readers into the past. A romantic at heart, she is an avid student of the Civil War and the Old West. When she isn’t busy writing, she is an English professor, working to pass on her love of writing to her students. Sherry is a multi-award-winning writer. She currently resides in Minnesota with her husband of forty-one years. She has three grown children and three grandchildren. Learn more & connect:
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Sherry’s Facebook Author Page Sherry’s Goodreads Sherry’s Bookbub
About the novella collection – Freed by the Frontier:
Three remarkable women find themselves caught between two worlds on the American frontier. A captive of the Comanche must choose between escaping to white society or her growing feelings for a rising war chief in 1850s Texas. A Georgia judge’s daughter flees an unwanted betrothal during the War of 1812, only to be captured by Creek warriors but protected by a mysterious brave. And in 1754, an English lady traveling the Great Wagon Road to become a music teacher discovers her carefully planned future may not survive her attraction to a protective frontiersman.
From quaint civilized towns to treacherous mountain passes and wilderness villages, three couples navigate cultural divisions, overcome past wounds, and face deadly dangers to discover that love knows no boundaries. But as war clouds gather and ancient tribal alliances shift, will their newfound relationships survive the coming storm? Or will the clash of worlds tear them apart?
Three unforgettable romances prove that God’s greatest blessings often come disguised as our greatest challenges, and that true love can bridge any divide.
Worried you won’t win? Interested in Sherry’s other titles? Need extra books for gifts?
Get your copy/copies now!
Freed by the Frontier Sherry’s Books
Come back July 31st for Shannon’s Book Bargains Roundup!
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