Title: I, Angus
Author: Mike Hartner
Publisher: Eternity 4 Popsicle Publishing
Pages: 260
Genre: Historical Fiction
Author: Mike Hartner
Publisher: Eternity 4 Popsicle Publishing
Pages: 260
Genre: Historical Fiction
During a time of civil strife and purging the North has
lost more men to Wars then it ever did to Nature.
Angus has grown up learning that his life is better off
with only him and a family. But is that really in the Grand Plan.
The North needs someone to build community.
But first, Angus needs to be forged... beaten, shaped,
bolded and trained.
Watch as Angus hits both lows and highs across the lands of England,
Scotland and France,
before meeting a challenge of new land.
BUYING LINKS:
The First Page
It is a few days before my fifteenth
birthday, and I have been scrubbing the castle floors all morning. I stand and
the wind blows hard in my face, moving my reddish-orange hair from in front of
my hazel eyes as I stretch my 5-foot 7-inch frame and look out the window.
The sky is
dark and gloomy, but I can’t smell the rain yet, so I know a long time will
pass before it pours down on our shire in North Scotland. In the far distance, I observe
something moving toward our castle. It’s not long before I recognize my da’s
charger. I can see others giving chase, although they’re quite a ways back. I
run to open the gate and lower the drawbridge. I yell for my sister Janet to
help me, because cranking it upright in a hurry is no small chore for one
person.
The
drawbridge has just been lowered when the hooves of Da’s horse, Spirit, come
galloping across it. My sis does her part, and we quickly raise the bridge and
race to the stallion and its rider. We arrive to hear the sound of arrows
hitting the drawbridge and men yelling imprecations.
The heavily
lathered stallion stands impatiently. On the horse’s back is its owner, Sir
Donald Mackenzie, my da’. He is doubled forward, holding on to the mane, with
an arrow in his upper left shoulder and another sticking out from his right
calf. He wears a blue bonnet, along with a plaid kilt depicting our family’s
lineage. A true archer, Da’s bow dangles on his back, diagonally between his
shoulders.
The men on
horseback, of which there are four, think better of trying to ford our moat,
and they ride off. Lucky for us they don’t know that at that moment we are
alone in the castle. Sis and I remove Da’ from the horse, and supporting our
father between us we hurry him to his bed, where she begins ministering to his
wounds.
I wonder what
has caused this terrible event? My father had left several days ago with my
much younger sister, Alice, to take her to a neighboring laird who had offered
to have her schooled. I had watched my da’ the night before give Alice a family heirloom. It wasn’t much,
but it was a locket that his great-grandmother had passed down to my
grandmother who had passed it down to my mother, who was no longer with us. I
remember Da’s telling us once that the tiny case had been given to our family
on the occasion of an aunt’s marriage into the Clan MacDonald. I’d seen the
engraving it held: two shields together, with their crests, one on the front,
one on the back. And I recall Alice's telling him, as he fastened it to
her neck, that she’d forever wear it proudly.
I’d learned,
however, not to believe much of what Alice said of late, as she was always
coming up with whatever she thought would gain her purchase. But Alice was the oldest daughter—now eleven
while Janet, who is every bit as tall as her and twice as strong, is but
nine—so the keepsake rightfully should go to her.
Da’ was onto
her though, and I think he’d worked out something with Laird MacLaren to see
that she learned manners and honor as much as anything. Aye, but I also thought
it might do her good to get set down a peg, as the MacLarens were wealthy
landowners and not to be trifled with. It crossed my mind as well that Da’
hoped she might find a man of some stature someday who’d marry her, which would
solve all the problems with Alice’s odd ways, as she never seemed happy with
what Da’ provided for her. No matter, she would be schooled, and if nothing
else she’d see other girls her age and how they acted. She would come back a
better person—if she chose to return at all, which I highly doubted.
Da’s ride
should have been a day out and a day back, with a day in-between to enjoy the
hospitality of the laird. You see, this is the North of Scotland, and all of
our families know each other, and no one just comes and goes, even if they are
not related.
My da’ is
hurt bad, and even with Janet and me by his side, the conditions are grim, as
there is only so much we can do. I bring him food when sis has it ready, but I
take it away when it isn’t touched four hours later. All he can do is let out
an occasional groan.
About the Author
Mike Hartner was born in Miami in 1965. He’s traveled much of the
continental United States. He has several years post secondary
education, and experience teaching and tutoring young adults. Hartner has owned
and run a computer firm for more than twenty-five years. He now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with his wife and child. They share the
neighborhood and their son with his maternal grandparents.
Mike’s
latest book is I, Angus (The Eternity Series
Book 4).
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