The Easterner
by
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Talia was shaking her head frantically, "I can't believe this is happening!" She pushed away from Amanda's shoulder. "If only I could be like you! You never needed anyone--and yet you always seemed happy enough." Amanda's voice softened. "But I do need people, Talia. I need you! I love you, even though it doesn't seem like it right now. But you have a different life now, and I'm no part of that life. Don't you understand? You have Daniel but I don't have anyone." "It isn't true! You don't know what you're saying! Everything we've ever known is here--our people, our land--they've made you what you are, not your dreams! Don't you see, nothing else lasts?" "Freedom does," Amanda said in an even tone. Just then the door squeaked open and the stately woman stepped out into the night. She walked over to Amanda and put her arm about her shoulder. "Are you ready, Dear?" Amanda took a deep breath and nodded, straightening her hat on her head before she pulled out a pearl-tipped hatpin and repositioned it with her gloved fingers. Jason watched Talia move toward the older woman. He vaguely heard her pleading, "Can't you make her stay? She's so young and she's never been anywhere in her life. She doesn't have any money." The woman shook her head then placed her hand gently on Talia's shoulder. "Don't worry about money, Talia. Your sister will want for nothing." A look of open denial filled Talia's face. The train came chugging into the depot. Jason edged closer to the end of the boardwalk just as the two sisters embraced. He could no longer hear their conversation. He saw Talia's trembling fingers touch her sister's face, then linger on her arm just before Amanda boarded the train behind her companion. The whistle screamed shrilly as the train began to pull away from the station in a cloud of billowing steam. Jason sat rigidly watching Talia, wondering what she was going to do next. His very being seemed to reach out, binding itself to hers, yet he was helplessly unable to console her. The rain had stopped. Casually, the gray clouds dispersed, leaving bare the bold face of the moon. In the moonlight Jason was able to see Talia clearly. He watched her as she stood staring up at the treetops swaying back and forth with a swishing noise. Her face was void of feeling, her eyes were empty. Then all at once she was shaking hysterically and a dreadful look of terror spread itself over her drawn face. She shouted after the train, "Wait! Amanda! Come back! Don't go away!" When the force of her words died she abruptly turned, running to her horse. In one swift move, she flung herself onto the horse's back and was gone. There was no sound, no dark contrasting figure standing on the wooden platform clothed in moonlight. Jason's face twisted in disbelief. It was as though she had never been there at all. What evil was playing folly with his mind?
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About the Book
"The Easterner is a good uplifting story with well developed characters that immediately draw empathy from the reader. Ms. Hall proves to have a very sensitive way of expressing in a period piece many of the feelings women have towards problems of our day. Smooth but exciting reading!" ---Leo D. Paur Director of Story Development Feature Films for Families Anthony Vinardi: A patriarch driven to instill tradition in his sons and daughters at any cost. Joseph Vinardi: A firstborn son courageous enough to defy the only man who has the means to destroy him. Amanda Vinardi: A young girl willing to give up her family and her heritage for a dream that eventually takes her across the world. Jason Forbes: The Easterner. A man who dares to risk his life fighting to change tradition in order to claim the only woman he's ever loved. Sylvia Sloan: The elusive woman powerful enough to change them all. As a boy, Anthony Vinardi watched his papa toil under the hot Nebraska sun, struggling to nurture the roots he had established on the small plot of land he farmed, the land that Anthony inherited before life in a new land could offer him another choice. Still, Anthony loved the earth and he was determined that his sons and daughters would feel the same way. Never in his wildest dreams had he envisioned a force stronger than the tradition that had been instilled in him all his life. Nor was he prepared to fight the man, the Easterner, who, as a result of the stroke of a pen, could tear Anthony's dream from his very soul and scatter it into the wind.
About the Author
Debra L. Hall was born and raised in Nebraska, and has been writing fiction, including published poetry, since childhood. She lives in Nebraska with her husband of 21 years. They have two sons. She has written many children's rhyming stories and is the author of Texas Wildflower, a historical novel available through Capper's Press in Topeka, KS. (1-800-678-5779), book I.D. # 0059. She has also published a nonfiction article on A.D.H.D. (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and has given several lectures on the same. Debra has also lectured students on critiquing fiction and poetry. Watch for Debra's next historical novel, Winds Across the Prairie.