Blood Kin: Deliverance Out of Pisgah

Blood Deliverance Out of Pisgah, 10/02/2010, 351 pages (print length), 102,600 wordsExcerpt from Chapter 10:The weather was also growing colder fast as the light faded into darkness. I didn’t want to stop, was afraid to spend another night in the open and alone, but I had no other choice. If I continued to climb down without being able to see my next step, I would surely fall and kill myself. I huddled up against a rock, making my body as small as possible. Mental and physical exhaustion claimed me, but I didn’t want to sleep. I knew the monsters would find me if my eyes closed.“Are you hurt?” asked a gentle voice.I knew I had fallen asleep and the voice was in my dream, but I couldn’t make my eyes open. Exhaustion was too strong, as was my ever-present fear.“Don’t be afraid,” continued the voice. “You’re safe with me.”I wanted to laugh, but my dream world wouldn’t allow laughter.“You’re wet and shivering,” the voice said. “I’ll have to carry you to safety. This cliff is dangerous in the best of times.”He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know.Hands touched me, strong hands. Did dreams come with hands? It was then my eyes opened and I saw the face of a man. I let out an earsplitting squeal.“It’s all right,” the gentle voice continued. “I need to see if anything is broken before I move you.”The moon was up and shining on the man. I expected to see a hairy monster with only a human face, but I didn’t. The face was ruggedly attractive in the pale moonlight. There was no long, shaggy, body hair.A smattering of relief hit me. This really was a man. With his help, I might be able to survive, but first I had to warn him of what had happened to my team.“Help me!” My hands grabbed the front of his coat and clung. “There’s monsters. They killed my team. All of them.”“Monsters?” He questioned but didn’t seem surprised as his hands ran over my legs, arms, and back. Oddly enough, his hands felt good on my bruises, comforting. I was no longer afraid of him, but the monsters were a different story.“There were big hairy monsters with human faces.” An uncontrollable shudder claimed my body. “They killed my team,” I managed to tell him again even though my teeth were chattering and my body shaking.“Take it easy. Calm yourself. You’re not going to be hurt. No monsters are going to get you. I assure you of that.”“Who are you? Where did you come from? Please believe me. They’ll kill us too, if they find us. You don’t know how strong they are. They carried our team off. All of them. We’ve got to escape.”“Escape?” he questioned.“On the river. We’ve got to raft down the river before they find out we’re here.”“You’re not in danger,” he repeated.I didn’t believe him, and I didn’t think he believed me. If he did, he would not be calmly taking his time as he felt for my injuries. He would be tumbling down the cliff, racing for the river.“What’s your name? How did you get here?” I demanded.“Seth,” he said. “What is yours?”“Colene. How did you get here?”“I was hiking.”“Hiking. It’s crazy to be hiking here. We’ve got to leave now,” I insisted, but he paid no attention to my desperate pleas.“Stay calm, Colene. You’re lucky I found you. You’d have been frozen stiff by morning.

About the Author

Peggy grew up on small farm in the Appalachian mountains; married young; finished school; made handcrafted folk toys; got her own farm adjacent the Blue Ridge Parkway on Grandfather Mountain; raised six children in a single-wide; grew burley tobacco, Christmas trees and small fruits; built a house; and raised small animals all while helping her husband do land surveying. Now, she farms less and creates novels sprinkled with the flavor of her mountain heritage.

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