Welcome to Freebits Friday! This week’s six paragraph excerpt is from my historical romance, Winter Fire. Once again I’ve drawn on Seneca legend in a short flashback, as Zara hides from men from the settlement who have come looking for her at Ethan’s cabin in connection with her uncle’s murder.

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…I can’t say enough how great this story is.It is well plotted and flows so easily that before you know it… You can’t put it down…I “HIGHLY” recommend this book!!” — Amazon.com review

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She could not run for the safety of her mother’s lodge, for the man blocked her way. So she ran away. She ran blindly, swiftly. And he followed. He chased her far, far from the village, into the fields of tall, waving corn and beans and squash by the edge of the forest. There she fell to the ground and could run no more.

Pressed close to the earth, screened all around by the sheltering corn, she heard the man draw close, and then his steps faded away. Too frightened to move, she kept herself still and close to the ground. She had tried not to breathe, not to think for fear that the sounds of her thoughts would give her away. And when she heard the voices of her brothers and men from the village, she saw that the sun had completed its journey across the sky. The day had passed without her being aware.

Okteondon, her oldest brother, laughed as he carried her home on his shoulders. “You were made small by the Jongies,” he said. “Our Jiiwi has a powerful orenda. The Jongies have protected her from harm!”

As relief over the men’s departure coursed through her body, Zara smiled sadly at the thoughts flooding her mind. How she missed her brothers! All but one, Hahjanoh, the youngest, were dead, killed in the terrible war that had already taken many brave young men and destroyed many of their villages. She missed her sisters and her old mother…and Nichus.

But when she thought of Nichus, her-husband-no-longer-her-husband, she felt neither a pang of longing for his closeness nor a great desire to be with him. When she saw his face in her mind, it was not the face of the man she had slept with for the many seasons of their union, nor the man who had provided all the meat and skins her family ever required. It was not the face of a man who prompted a warmth of feeling to envelop her heart and excite her blood and inflame her senses. It had never been that way with him. She missed him as a cherished friend, a brother. Suddenly she realized that there had never been an abundance of passion between them. Not in the way another man’s touch had inspired her to imagine.

Ethancaine… The men from the settlement had called him by name. Ethancaine. Twice he had placed himself between her and danger. Twice now she owed him her life and her gratitude. Ethancaine was the reason she had not run.

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To find out more about Winter Fire, please click on the cover.

Friday FreeBits is a regular feature on Ginger Simpson’s blog, Dishin’ It Out. To read more excerpts from some great authors, click here.

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