River People

In Celebration

I’m celebrating having finished another draft of my next novel: The Broken Statue. I thought I’d share of bit of that beginning with a bit of River People’s beginning:... ¶“Bridget sucked in a deep breath at the sight of a stag climbing the river bank and into the yard. Then a second animal, a third, and even a fourth. A male deer in January with an unshed rack wasn’t horribly unusual, but seeing four, and so close to the farm buildings was extraordinary. Their eyes fixed on her at the window, and they started forward. ¶ High stepping through the snow, they came four abreast, keeping such a precise configuration they might have been harnessed to a sleigh. Shoulder to shoulder, they obeyed supernatural reins. ¶ She’d thought them fully formed, but as they neared, bodies thickened, copper coats deepened, and antlers swelled. ¶ Bridget’s knees trembled inside her worn dungarees. Breathing was hard, backing away from the window, impossible. The closer they came, the more quartered she felt. Each stag taking his acre. They stopped just outside her window, the pools of their eyes deeper than human eyes. What other-world prompting had sent them?