My lips are so chapped they bleed when I talk. The only thing to do is dip our fingers in to the bucket of axle grease and rub our lips every hour or so. It smells bad, it tastes bad, and the blowing dust sticks.It feels like we must be halfway to Oregon, but Tall Joe says, no, we've only gone five hundred miles. He also says the worst part of the trail is to come.Does he mean more rivers to cross...? I'm afraid to ask what he's talking about.

    The nation knows him as a sharpshooter, buffalo hunter, moving pictures pioneer, and one-time proprietor of the greatest Wild West show the nation has ever seen. Some of the stories are true, some exaggerated, and some rank among the wildest of tall tales. But for a man who has lived like Colonel Cardiff, the facts trump the myth. In the spring of 1868, Denver is the richest, wildest city west of the Mississippi. When an overweight Easterner named Dr. Bogardus rolls into town to announce a shooting contest with a $1,000 prize, ears prick up. Young Hugh wins the shoot with an ancient muzzle-loading rifle, knocking glass balls out of the air and missing only four out of one hundred targets. He is famous at nineteen, and the Colonel’s wild life is just getting started.

    He is a preacher living under a sense of duty and obligation to love the unlovable people in the world. She isn't letting anything deter her from solving a family mystery that surfaced after her mother's death. He is on a mission to reach the rejects of society in the remote wilderness regions of Montana. Miss Fannie Rousseau and Reverend Samuel Beck are opposites in every way... except in how they both keep wondering if their paths will ever cross again.

    

    Named Brighty by the prospector who befriended him, he remained a free spirit at heart. But when a ruthless claim-jumper murdered the prospector, loyal Brighty risked everything to bring the killer to justice. Brighty's adventures have delighted generations of readers, and he has become the symbol of a joyous way of life. Some people say that you can even see his spirit roving the canyon on moonlit nights-forever wild, forever free.

    It is a harrowing journey, but plain-looking Marian welcomes the challenge of their adventure, while beautiful Amanda complains at every turn. And when they need rescuing, cowboy Chad Kinkaid is the strong, sexy hero for the job. Amanda's beauty catches Chad's eye, but it is Marian's daring spirit and hidden passion that spark his desire for her — a sensual attraction that lands them in a romantic entanglement Marian is not prepare to handle. Tied to him by the fate of her aunt's ranch, Marian must face a proud cowboy who's determined to convince her — whether it means wooing her under the stars of the open range or following her back East — that she's the only woman for him...

    He can’t afford to lose the position, and she refuses to lose her heart. Humiliated after her broken engagement, Claire Montgomery flees her comfortable life in San Francisco for a teaching position in Pine Creek, Washington, a dot of a town nestled in the rugged Cascade Mountains. She’s determined to succeed—for once in her life—only to discover, upon her arrival, that success will have to be won. Thanks to a school board error, two teachers have been hired. When scandal forces professor Barrett Clarke from his position, he returns to Pine Creek where his uncle, chairman of the school board, sets forth an irresistible offer: teach one year in return for ranchland. For this would-be rancher, nothing is more tempting than resurrecting his childhood dream, and nothing can deter him from earning that land. Except perhaps Claire Montgomery. Losing the battle for the classroom means losing the ranchland, but winning may mean losing Claire’s heart.

    Dead ends are a reality for clerks at the Dead Letter Office. Still she dreams of something more--a bit of intrigue, a taste of romance, or at least a touch less loneliness. When a letter from a brokenhearted man to his one true love falls into her hands, Penny seizes this chance to do something heroic. It becomes her mission to place this lost letter into the hands of its intended recipient.Thomas left his former life with no intention of ending up in Azure Springs, Iowa. He certainly didn't expect a happy ending after what he had done. All he wanted to do was run and never look back. In a moment of desperation, he began to write, never really expecting a reply.When Penny's undertaking leads her to the intriguing man who touched her soul with his words, everything grows more complicated. She wants to find the rightful owner of the letter and yet she finds herself caring--perhaps too much--for the one who wrote it.

    Clara has never known another home. In fact, she's confined to the grand estate due to a mysterious heart condition. But it's a comfortable life, and if it weren't for the creepy squawking birds in the aviary out back, a completely peaceful one too. But once old Mrs. Glendoveer passes away, Clara comes to learn many dark secrets about the family. The Glendoveers suffered a horrific tragedy: their children were kidnapped, then drowned. And their father George Glendoveer, a famous magician and illusionist, stood accused until his death. As Clara digs deeper and deeper into the terrifying events, the five birds in the aviary seem to be trying to tell her something. And Clara comes to wonder: what is their true identity? Clara sets out to solve a decades-old murder mystery—and in doing so, unlocks a secret in her own life, too. Kathleen O'Dell deftly weaves magic, secret identities, evil villians, unlikely heroes, and the wonder of friendship into a mystery adventure with all the charm of an old fashioned classic.

    On his right hip hangs a Colt .45 Peacemaker. In his pack -- and often in his hand -- he carries a large, black Bible. He is the legend known only as the Stranger.John Stranger finds the citizens of Riverton, Wyoming held in a grip of fear. Assuming the identity of their new pastor, the Stranger takes a stand against the evil that has infiltrated the town -- with both gently spoken biblical wisdom and unequaled fighting skill.

    In this ambitious, incandescent debut, Malcolm Brooks animates that time and untamed landscape, in a tale of the modern and the ancient, of love and fate, and of heritage threatened by progress.Catherine Lemay is a young archaeologist on her way to Montana, with a huge task before her—a canyon “as deep as the devil’s own appetites.” Working ahead of a major dam project, she has one summer to prove nothing of historical value will be lost in the flood. From the moment she arrives, nothing is familiar—the vastness of the canyon itself mocks the contained, artifact-rich digs in post-Blitz London where she cut her teeth. And then there’s John H, a former mustanger and veteran of the U.S. Army’s last mounted cavalry campaign, living a fugitive life in the canyon. John H inspires Catherine to see beauty in the stark landscape, and her heart opens to more than just the vanished past. Painted Horses sends a dauntless young woman on a heroic quest, sings a love song to the horseman’s vanishing way of life, and reminds us that love and ambition, tradition and the future, often make strange bedfellows. It establishes Malcolm Brooks as an extraordinary new talent.

    He doesn’t have the time or interest, but her father’s influence reaches far and wide. He has no choice.Claire is a strong-willed, independent woman traveling from Philadelphia to Bareglen Creek with two purposes: to comfort her sister after the recent loss of her husband, and ultimately convince her sister and brother to return home to Philadelphia — where they belong. She’s also running from a proposal from Edward Woodbury, one of the most sought-after bachelors in Philadelphia — well, sought after by every woman but her, that is.Sheriff Sully has preconceived notions about Claire, and 'annoyed' doesn’t even begin to cover how he feels about being tasked with protecting her. After Claire arrives, he finds himself creating a list of all the things he admires about her, and he’s surprised by the fact he wants to get to know her better. He wants to add more items to the ever-growing list of things he admires, but she’ll leave Bareglen Creek in less than four weeks unless he can give her a reason to stay.Claire finds herself intrigued by the handsome and intelligent Sheriff, yet chagrined that her father tasked him with her protection. She’s quite capable of taking care of herself—why won’t anyone listen to the fact that she doesn’t need a man for that?Or does she?When danger strikes at the heart of Bareglen Creek, and events begin swirling out of control, Claire wonders if she’s made a mistake. Her immediate attraction to Sheriff Sully shocks her, and she has no idea what to do with feelings awakened inside her, let alone with the danger that threatens.Will Sheriff Sully and Claire discover that some things in life are worth fighting for — and potentially risking your life for — before it is too late?Join Sheriff Sully and Claire on a whirlwind journey that includes danger, intrigue, kidnappings, Indians, Cowboys, and more.HERO HEARTS is a multi-author series featuring both historical westerns and contemporary Christian romance. Join Annie Boone, Hayley Wescott and Kate Cambridge in a world unlike any other; a world where Heroes are honored with unforgettable characters and beautiful, Christian love stories.The authors of this series are committed to writing stories of faith, hope, and love centered in fictional heroes who sacrifice daily to protect and save. A mix of historical and modern-day.

    Across the border Mexico beckons—beautiful and desolate, rugged and cruelly civilized. With two companions, he sets off on an idyllic, sometimes comic adventure, to a place where dreams are paid for in blood.

    Maimed and abandoned as an infant, Freckles seeks a chance to prove his worth. He is given that opportunity as the guard of the precious timber of the Limberlost.

    Not only can they watch the university’s football games from the tower of their house on College Avenue, but now Tommy Tokarynski, who mows their lawn, is famous. He’s Midwest University’s star quarterback. There’s only one problem: Tommy’s grades are dreadful, and he might get kicked off the team before the homecoming game. With a little ingenuity, Susan, George, and Dumpling team up for a season of fun as they set out to save their beloved quarterback, outsmart their naughty neighbors, rescue animals, and start a new business that just might help out the whole family. It’s never a dull moment when the Ridgeway kids are involved!The adventures of the Ridgeway family in Family Grandstand and its sequel, Family Sabbatical, were inspired by Carol Ryrie Brink’s own family and their life together in Saint Paul, Minnesota.