Black Hand Over Kansas
by
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Finally she located the bottle. She paused and hugged herself as hard as she could for a good two minutes to control her shaking, then gathered the strength to unscrew the cap. But her spirits sunk and she had an insane desire to scream when she saw that the bottle was nearly empty! Realizing she had to press on, she soaked her handkerchief with the remaining liquid and slowly brought it to the open mouth of Dao Chi, praying that there was enough solution to incapacitate him. She had nothing to fear. His breathing merely deepened as the drug took hold. She repeated the performance, using the same handkerchief on the two coolies with the same results. After removing their weapons, she moved to the entrance where her hands found the heavy rope ladder piled on the floor. She deposited the pistols in some brush and picked up the ladder.
Staggering under the burden, she drug it to the edge of the cliff. From below she heard three sharp whistles, sounds that caused her to sob with relief at the knowledge that her rescuers were there. Working quickly, her movements being illuminated by repeated flashes of lightning across the blackened sky, she secured the top rung of ropes to the base of a gnarled scrub pine.
Patches of moonlight filtered through the storm clouds. Combined with the lightning, they illuminated the ledge below. As she lowered the ladder over the edge she could make out the forms of two men waiting. Then she heard a faint voice calling up to her. It was Malcolm, saying, 'Su Chang, the ladder won't reach us. Can you move it five or six feet closer?'
Several jagged rocks protruded from the face of the cliff. They provided the ideal spot to anchor the rope. But it wasn't an easy task.
Time and again she fell on the slippery incline at the cliff's edge as struggled with the rain soaked ladder. Each time she grabbed onto the thorny bushes to keep from being swept over the side. Besides having to contend with the ladder, the icy rain, and bleeding hands, her horrible fear of heights made her feel that she was moving in slow motion.
It was a monumental task for a one hundred and ten pound woman. She could feel her strength waning. It was taking much too long and she didn't know how long she could depend on the chloroform. Her captors could awaken at any time!
She finally got a loop over a rock and staggered back to catch her breath. A mighty tug from below tested her work.
'Cover me', Malcolm said. 'I'm going up. It's secured.'
While Angus held the rope taut, Malcolm moved up the sheer face of the cliff, pausing as lightning, thunder and rain threatened to drive him back to the safety of the ledge. Ignoring it all, he doggedly continued upward. It only took a few minutes, then he was at the top, reaching to grasp Su Chang's outstretched hand.
Then, he was next to her, holding her as she hugged him, gasping for air to regain his strength.
'We made it! We're going to get you out of here right now! Are all three men in the cave?', he asked, whispering excitedly to her.
'Yes. I used the chloroform but the bottle was almost empty. They may wake up at any time! We must hurry!', she warned.
Then she screamed, a hysterical shriek that even Angus could hear over the sounds of the storm.
Standing in the entrance to the cave, groggy from the effects of the drug, stood Dao Chi and the two coolies, taking deep gulps of air to clear their heads.
'Quick, down the ladder!', Malcolm barked at Su Chang. 'It's your only chance!'
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About the Book
Cataclysmic events set the stage for the formation of an unlikely partnership that will bend the course of history. In China a brutal attack by a rampaging warlord sends a rich young couple on a desperate voyage where they become targets of the Tong Of The Black Hand. Meanwhile, a half-dead Yankee officer escapes from a notorious Confederate prison and returns to his ranch and the arms of his raven haired wife, a beauty in bootpants. Fate, destiny, or maybe just pure accident will soon bring Malcolm and Steffi Frazier and Ben Wang and Su Chang together.
Events unfold rapidly when copper prices skyrocket. Bank stock in an Arizona mining venture becomes available to Ben and his banker when the mine owners are gunned down. The bankers wife is murdered during a kidnapping in which Su Chang is captured by the Tong and taken to Colorado. Malcolm leads a high mountain rescue attempt and Steffi gains heroine status when forced into a gunbattle with rustlers, actions which endear them to Ben Wang who now controls the mining stock.
In this fast paced thinking person's thriller, the reader is swept up in blazing action occurring in China, Kansas, Colorado, Mexico, and Arizona, and is treated to a rare look into the financial pressures and strategies to be dealt with as our heroes prepare to embark on the adventure of a lifetime: The quest for the untold riches of the Rose Pit Mine. It all welds a colorful cast of never-to-be-forgotten characters together in a saga which will enrich the reader from beginning to end.
BLACK HAND OVER KANSAS-the first in a series of three books-stands alone. It can be enjoyed singly, or, if the reader is caught up in the adventure, THE JOURNADA DEL MUERTO and THE VICTORS will be available for publication soon.
About the Author
Ernie Frazier, a grandson of Kansas pioneers who came west in a covered wagon, was raised near old Dodge City, the infamous cowtown that helped make the west wild.
He has also lived in Arizona and Texas and travels extensively in many of the areas he writes about, touring mines and ancient ruins in the U. S. and Mexico.
His experiences, some of which are vividly revisited in his writings, provide much of his inspiration. As a young soldier he was exposed to the underbelly of life while stationed on the Arizona-Mexican border. Later he began a career that provides financial products and services to estate and business owners. His knowledge of banking comes from having served on a bank's board of directors, feeding cattle, and by selling operating businesses to investors.