Forever Wild (Book 1 in the Forever His Series)

Chapter 1

1850

August.

  The night is young in Bodie, California. Here and there, people scurry for cover. Women, huddled in tight groups, ignore leers and obscene comments from drunks loitering about; wild dogs chase wild cats down dark alleys, and families lock up their homes and businesses tight for the night.

  Thunder rumbles in the sky and rain falls like a heavy sheet against the earth. Half a mile outside of town, a young woman stands beside a freshly buried grave and weeps.

  "Collin..." She whispers as her mourning dress is soon drenched. Her hands hang limply as rainwater mixes with her tears, blurring her vision.

  A clap of thunder startles her and she moves as if to flee from the cemetery, but instead collapses in a fit of furious grief. The woman's face turns to the sky, her eyes accusing as she shouts, "Why God? Why Collin?" Emily Rosewater pours her aching heart into her screams that rival even the powerful rumblings of lightning in the gloomy sky.

"He was good, you hear? He was good! You give him back! You give Collin back to me right now!" She beats at the ground, fingers digging into the mud as if she can bring him back to life by simply uncovering him; mud flies in all directions, not a care for her apparel or if anyone sees her. Let them see and know that no one takes anything from her, not even God!

But as her dirt-crusted hands reach into the wet earth, a tremble sets in and the pit in her stomach grows. Collin's body is in a box. A box. It's not right. None of this is right.

She stills, her hands shaking. As badly as she wants to open his coffin, she knows that his eyes will not open again. She sits back on the edge of the small hole she made and sobs.

"Please, come back. I can't do this without you."

Nothing but another rumble in the sky.

No answer.

No Collin.

Emily's tears help pack the dirt back in as she fills the hole and struggles to her feet. She chokes back a sob as the last rays of sunlight begin to fade and, drenched and shivering, makes her way to her nearby wagon. Heart heavy, she climbs in, flicks the reigns, and heads home with the thunderstorm raging above and the dead judging below; all the while wishing for a miracle that never comes.