Redemption

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The burning sun beat down on Jessie and heated the earth beneath her. She groaned as her eyes began to focus and she became fully conscious. The clear blue sky stretched out above her and the sun scorched her face relentlessly. Her head pounded and pain seared her left leg. She tried to move into a sitting position, but her head throbbed too intensely for her to sit up completely. With no shade in sight, she didn’t know how much longer she could survive out in the heat. Putting her forearm on her forehead to block some of the sun’s light, she tried to think hard on how she ended up out here. She didn’t even know what state she was in. Her last memory was of her family, consisting of a mother, father, and an older brother, all sitting on the wide front porch of their home in South Carolina. The cold night breeze swept over them and her father’s arm had tightened around her mother. Jake, her brother, had told her something about his day when a man walked up to the porch. He was tall, charmingly handsome, and muscularly built. He had a wide smile on his face and had directed it right at her.

She knew this man, she could feel it.

Who was he?

He had sat down on the porch with the familiarity of another family member, but he didn’t look like any of them.

Jessie wished her mind would recall more, as this memory gave her no clue as to why she was even in the place. She didn’t recognize the scenery around her, but it appeared to be somewhere out West.

What was she doing out West?

Attempting to sit up one more time, dizziness overcame her and she lay back down, the throbbing in her head growing even worse.

God, please help me. I have no idea where I am. I’m scared, and confused right now. Please send someone to help. Surely there is someone out here in the middle of nowhere.

She opened her eyes and tried to focus once more one the land around her. Tall, straight mountain-like hills rose from the ground far in the distance, colored hues of orange and brown. They were quite tall, almost disappearing in the clouds that saw fit to scatter everywhere but over her head.

She sighed, the air coming out as a whimper. She was terrified as the world around her began to turn dark again.

Help me, Lord. Please, you hold my only hope…

She slipped into unconsciousness with an unfinished prayer sent heavenward.

*****

“Granny, this is ridiculous!” Colt Kidd sat atop his horse and stared down at his grandmother.

Carby Kidd was on an adventure kick again, and it would take him a number of weeks to get her straight again.

“You’ll be saying that when I come back filthy rich!” the youthful anticipation in Granny’s voice was just about enough for him to let her go off to California like she was planning.

“Granny, the Gold Rush was back in ‘54. That was twenty years ago. There’s no more gold,” Colt tried to convince her.

“You think they got all of it?” Granny asked, tucking a stray strand of her silvery white hair behind her ear.

Colt resisted rolling his eyes. “How is a lady your age going to gold mine?”

“I’m a lot spryer than you think I am. I can mine just as good as you could,” Granny raised her nose a notch.

Colt looked down at his grandmother’s worn shoes. “You planning on walking all the way to Plateau?”

Granny’s head bobbed up and down.