Ghosts of a Troubled Past (Preview)

Chapter One

Cal Paced the room, a thousand thoughts running through his head. How could he have let this happen? He’d been so careful. At least, he thought he was.

He sensed Jack and the others were coming for him. He’d been dreading it all day. But when would they come? Would it be tonight? Tomorrow? In a week?

They were taunting him. He could tell.

With every muscle in his body tense, Cal went to the dresser that held his clothes and jerked open the top drawer. Realizing he didn’t have anything to put them in, he turned and bolted to the bed. He dropped to his knees and looked underneath, searching for the large sack he’d used to carry his clothes in when he got here.

It would be a shame to let the boarding house room go. He’d waited so long to get a room of his own and now he was going to leave again, back out on the streets with nowhere to really call home.

Back to Steven’s for the time being, until he could figure something out.

Steven Furtaugh was Cal’s best friend. Had been for going on ten years. They met when they both worked in the mine. That was probably the worst job Cal had ever had. But it got him his best friend. He’d helped Cal through some hard times.

Steven’s family had money now, an inheritance passed down from Steven’s grandmother. No matter how many times he’d offered to take care of Cal, there was no way he would let that happen. He would pay his own way through blood, sweat and tears if he had to. But he wasn’t going to let another man pay his way.

He spotted the bag and grabbed it, yanking it out from under the bed. He was immediately hit with a cloud of dust and he sputtered, waving his hand in front of his face to clear the air. He stepped to the side and slapped the bag against the footboard of the bed several times, amazed by the amount of dust that sprang up in the air and then fell down to coat the floor and the lower part of the bed.

“Ugh,” he moaned seconds before remembering he wasn’t staying in the room after tonight. Jack was coming for him and there was nothing he could do to remedy the situation.

New Orleans was a big city. How was he to know the girl in the saloon was Jack’s latest infatuation? He’d never seen them together and the girl gave him no signs that she was taken. In fact, when Jack came barreling over and threatened his life, she looked surprised and protested along with Cal.

But it made no difference. It had been a week since that happened and Jack had threatened Cal’s life every time they ran across one another.

He’d been living in fear of having his throat slit while he slept ever since.

He didn’t want to live like that. There was nothing keeping him in New Orleans. He cared a great deal for his best friend and Steven’s wife, Lilian. Even their twin daughters, Karla and Layla, were a bright spot in his day. But his love for them wasn’t enough to keep him in New Orleans. He had to get out of town.

Still, Steven’s was the safest place to go for now and maybe he would have an idea where Cal could go. He was a smart man and cared a lot about Cal’s welfare. He could trust Steven not to steer him in the wrong direction.

He threw as much of his clothes in the sack as he could, topping it off with a few personal items. He pulled the string tight and closed the sack, tying it around a cog at the top.

He looked around the room before he left, thinking he would miss his little home. He’d been there for a couple years and was always proud to say he had to “go home”, knowing he really had a home to go to.

Sighing heavily, he closed the door behind him as he left, making a memory in his heart of the place he’d felt safe for so long.

He turned at the stairs and went down to the door that led outside. Glancing to his left and right, he wondered if he should tell the boarding house landlady that he was leaving. He stopped at her door, which was the first room and was more like an apartment than a room in a house.

Cal knocked and whistled under his breath while he waited, nervous that Jack and his men might come in the door at any moment and beat him into the ground.

He looked behind him quickly but no one had come in. He tapped his fingers on the butt of his gun. He didn’t want to have to use it.

Sighing again, he knocked a little harder and pressed one ear against the door. He heard nothing coming from the other side.

Landlady was going to have to discover he was gone for herself. He wanted to leave and nothing was keeping him here, where he was now vulnerable and unsafe.

He turned to the front door and slipped through, going around to the side where the shelter stood. His horse was in one of the small stalls, flapping his black tail back and forth.

“Come on, boy,” he whispered, strapping the bag to the back of the saddle and pulling himself up. “Let’s get out of here.”

He wished he didn’t have to say those words. But as Cal headed toward Steven’s house, he knew he was going to miss that place. The food the landlady prepared for the regular meals was always good and the conversation around the table with other tenants was sometimes fun and often informative.

He glanced over his shoulder only once. It was likely he would never return.

Cal stepped out on the porch and looked over at the burning end of a cigar glowing red in the dim light. Steven was holding it between two fingers, near his smiling mouth. He took a puff, making the cigar end burn even brighter, turning a golden orange color. 

“I just want to thank you and Lilian for putting up with me, Steven. It means a lot to me.”

Steven shook his head and waved his friend over. “Come on over and take a load off, Cal. You’ve got some bad luck, fella, and I am here to help however I can. You know that.”

Cal slowly walked to one of the iron porch chairs near Steven, who was seated in the very middle of a two person swing, his arms stretched out across the back when he wasn’t taking a draw from the cigar. He looked incredibly comfortable. 

The iron chairs all had colorful decorative pillows on them, so Cal didn’t mind sitting in them. It would be the first night that he would actually stay with Steven and his family. Despite the warm welcome from not only the adults but the little twin girls, as well, Cal knew he was not where he was supposed to be. He knew he was strong enough, smart enough, capable enough to be his own man. He didn’t need to rely on the kindness of his friends. 

He could survive on his own. The urge to be independent was strong. But right now, he needed to sit back and regroup. Make a new plan. Something had to change. 

“I’ve been thinking, Steven,” he said as soon as he was seated. “I should just… I should just leave New Orleans.”

Steven’s eyebrows shot up. The lanterns burning around the porch danced off his face, a mix of shadow and light. He was definitely surprised by that announcement. Cal knew why. 

“You can’t leave New Orleans,” Steven said, his voice strained somewhat. Cal didn’t understand it at first. Did he mean that much to the man? “This is your home. You can’t let someone drive you away from your home.”

Cal nodded. “I understand what you’re saying. But… well, there’s a lot of good memories here but plenty of bad ones. And it seems like every time I think life is gonna go good, something happens to make it bad again. I really think I need a fresh start. I’m not gonna find the woman I want here. That’s obvious.”

“You’re only 27 years old. You can’t give up yet.”

“I know,” Cal agreed aggressively. “That’s all the more reason I gotta get outta town. I can’t deal with this life anymore. Too much chaos. Too much goin’ on. I want to start somewhere fresh.”

Steven’s eyes sharpened and then darted away from Cal’s face. Cal knew that look. His best friend looked like that every time he had a good idea.

Cal leaned forward, saying urgently, “What? What did you just think? I know you just had an idea, Steven. Spit it out, buddy.”

Steven returned his gaze to Cal’s face but put the cigar in his mouth and just looked at him contemplatively. 

Cal cocked his head to the side and frowned lightly. “Come on. I know you thought of something. What was it?”

“I don’t think you’d be interested,” Steven said, his voice hesitant in a way Cal hadn’t heard before. Maybe the idea wasn’t such a good one? Or maybe it was dangerous.

A trace of excitement slipped into Cal’s chest. Danger might be just what he needed to help him reevaluate his life and the value of living. And if he died, who cared? He had no one to leave behind.

“I think you should let me decide that. Come on. Tell me. Don’t make me get angry.”

They both laughed. Cal wouldn’t have laid his hands on Steven any more than he would have one of the little twin girls.

“I wouldn’t want that,” Steven replied, making his voice shake on purpose. 

They laughed again.

“All right, well, I know of a wagon train leaving on Friday and you could always join them. Stay here until then. But it’s a rough ride to Missouri, Cal. You could die. And, well, I’ll miss you if you really decide to go.”

Cal contemplated that idea, letting it roll through his mind a few times. It was a dangerous ride. Cross state treks were always fraught with danger. But it could be just the adventure he needed.

“Where they goin’ in Missouri? First place they see?”

Steven shook his head, looking a little dismayed. Cal could tell he regretted even thinking of it. “Going to Independence. And… well, my brother lives there. Only reason I know about the wagon train is because I gave one of the ladies a package to give to him.”

Cal raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t know you had a brother in Missouri.”

Steven lifted his shoulders. “We were separated as kids. He went with a family from the church when Ma and Pa died and I stayed here with Aunt Jeannie. We don’t talk much. But I know he’s a good fella. He’ll help you get settled in once you get there.”

They were quiet for a moment. 

“You sure you want to do this, Cal? I wish you wouldn’t let Jack run you out of town.”

Cal shook his head. “It’s not just Jack. I gotta get out and see the world. I gotta live a new life. I feel stuck here. I gotta go.”

“Cal Banning?”

Hearing his name brought Cal out of the memory. He was standing in a long line of people registering to join the wagon train. The scene around him looked so bleak. Most of the wagons seemed to be owned by families with a mother, father, sometimes a grandparent and several children. He didn’t see anyone without a partner. He couldn’t be the only single person on the journey. That would make it pretty boring.

He nodded, though he was sure he looked as disheartened as he felt. The air seemed so hot and was wet with humidity. Cal had to take in a deep breath and ignore the commotion around him caused by the children running by, their mothers calling after them and men discussing what the journey would be like.

He stepped up to the table where the woman who said his name was sitting. She held out a pen between her fingers and pointed at the ledger open in front of him. He took the pen and bent over, running his eyes along the names of the people who had already signed up.

John and Mary Claymore

Sigmond and Iris Laymantown (+three, Daniel, Lucas, Angelica)

Matthew and Laura Bridgewater (+one, Etta)

Clyde and Rosemary Dwight (+two, Carol and Ivy)

He noticed the page number listed at the top. It said page four. There were already three full pages of people on the journey with him. And that wasn’t counting the wives and children. His chest was tight. This was going to be a big group of people.

He looked at the young woman seated behind the desk.

“How many people are on this trek?” he asked. “Is that something you would know?”

The woman gazed at him with big brown eyes that looked so unconcerned it was like he hadn’t even asked a question. She leaned to the side and looked at the long line behind him. “Oh, I’d say there are at least fifty more families signing up. And we have more than a hundred already. It’s going to be a safe journey. Safety in numbers, you know.”

She gave him a dazzling, charming smile, which he automatically returned.

But when he turned away from the desk after signing his name, his apprehension came back. In his mind, more people were harder to control, which meant there was danger among the ranks. Where had all these people come from? Was this merely a meeting spot to pick up people who wanted to join an already formed group?

It was a possibility.

Either way, it looked like it was going to be a long, lonely one for Cal. As a bachelor, he would be expected to be on guard, watching whatever circle he joined in the evenings, keeping other people safe.

And he would probably do that anyway. It was a natural thing for him to do.

But it would have been nice to have someone to talk to. There would be no Steven coming along on this mission. He was doing this all on his own.

And wasn’t that exactly what he wanted?

Chapter Two

The wagons had been traveling all day. That part of the trip wasn’t bad, in Cal’s opinion. In fact, looking back on it later, he would consider the beginning of the trek the best of the time he spent on the road.

The land was flat and green. As they moved away from New Orleans, the land became a bit more rocky and hilly but it wasn’t bad enough to wear anyone out or for anyone to get hurt somehow. The children played, running back and forth, the women cooked and kept the children from killing each other. The men bonded and kept guard while others slept.

Just as he’d thought, Cal was asked to do some of the guard work since he didn’t have a family to protect. He took the shifts the other men weren’t keen on taking. Fortunately for him, he’d joined a specific section of the wagon train that included not just another single man but also a lovely young lady that caught Cal’s eye.

He made it a long-term goal to talk to that girl and find out her name, at least. So he’d know who he was talking to in his daydreams.

He turned his horse to go around the edge of the circle the wagons made. Inside the circle, there were campfires, children playing, men talking, women cooking. He glanced in between the wagons, one after another, to see if he could catch a glimpse of the pretty girl. When he was relieved of duty, he was going to go make friends with them.

She was with a man and a woman. The women looked like they might be sisters. He couldn’t tell if she was with the man or not but it seemed to him from body language that the other woman was with the man. It made him more comfortable with his attraction to think that but every now and then, he got the sickening sensation that he might be pining over another man’s wife.

He was not that kind of man.

He saw her and abruptly halted his horse, who bucked a little in protest.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, patting the horse on her large neck without taking his eyes from the woman. Just the sight of her, standing in front of the fire, smiling down at the man she was accompanying, made his heart pitter patter like that of a boy in school.

He didn’t know whether to like it or be frustrated by it.

He turned his head and looked out over the long field behind him. There was no way anyone could sneak across that field. There was absolutely no cover. He’d noticed as they came out of Louisiana, or at least New Orleans, there was less and less foliage.

Josh O’Malley, the other single man in the group, yelped and waved frantically from some yards away. He looked at the man and waved back. There was likely no reason for him to be so boisterous. But that was Josh, a man who was on fire for God and for life. Despite the desperate situation they were in, traveling thousands of miles on foot to get to a better place to live, with the possibility of death around every corner, Josh had a constant smile on his face and a gleam in his eye. He had a little hop in his step that revealed his natural positive energy.

Cal liked him a lot.

“Hello there!” Josh called out in a formal voice. “I am here to take your place, sir!”

Cal raised his eyebrows. “I’ve attained the rank of sir now? That sounds good. Sir Cal.”

Josh laughed as he got closer. “I didn’t knight you, unfortunately. I was just being polite.”

Cal gave his friend a contemplative look. “Do you have to be a knight to be called Sir?”

“If you follow it with someone’s name, then yes. Otherwise, no. That’s what I’ve been told, anyway.”

Cal shook his head, looking dejected. “Well, I thought I was being knighted. How disappointing.”

Josh laughed again and responded with his own sarcastic look. “You just go on and talk to that woman. Yeah, yeah, I’ve seen you eyein’ her. Do you even know her name?”

Cal shook his head. “No. I don’t even know how she’s related to those two that she’s with.”

“That’s her brother,” Josh said in a casual tone, turning his head so he could see through between the wagons. The woman was sitting now on the steps up to the back of the wagon that had been pulled out and extended for her. She had her ankles crossed.

Cal noticed she was sitting with her back straight, as if taught to do that, and while he was watching, one leg slid forward so her knee was over the opposing foot and she could swing her leg daintily through the air. His heart jumped into his throat. He had never seen anyone so beautiful in his life.

He pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly, saying at the same time, “She’s so beautiful.” He was glad to hear the man was her brother and grateful when Josh continued.

“Yeah, that’s her brother and his wife, Laura. Her name is Etta. His name is Nicholas. They’re a nice couple and Etta’s real sweet. I haven’t talked to them a lot but I made it my goal to meet everyone in the entire wagon train as soon as I joined up.”

Cal thought that was a lot of people to introduce yourself to. He gave Josh a close look. “You’ve met everyone in the entire train?”

Josh gave him a defeated look. “Nah. Too many people. But I do know everyone in this section. And a few in the others before I knew which section I was gonna join. I tried. There’s just too many.”

“I can’t imagine. When I came to join up, I didn’t realize there were so many people. I…”

Cal stopped talking and his head whipped to the side when a slight noise caught his attention. But it wasn’t on the side of the field. It was next to the wagon. His eyes settled on the pretty face of Etta Bridgewater – a name he would never forget.

“Hello there,” he said, lifting his hat in the air. She smiled at him and turned it to include Josh.

“Hello. I thought I heard voices coming through from here.”

Cal chuckled, despite himself. “And you thought you’d just come out and see if it was a bandit or something? Without a weapon or anything?”

Etta grinned but Cal could tell she was trying to put it on her face. It hadn’t come naturally. “I… I suppose I wouldn’t be able to do much good defending myself or my family, huh?”

Cal shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. But we won’t harm you. You’re safe. I’m just getting off my shift and now Josh is on it.” He lifted his hand in Josh’s direction. “And he’ll keep us all safe.”

Etta looked at Josh, her smile wavering slightly but remaining nonetheless. She looked back at Cal. “Would you like some coffee? Or some hot cocoa? I brought some along, just in case.”

He was surprised by the offer. Was it fate?

“I’d love some coffee,” he replied, glancing at Josh, who lifted his chin once.

“Go on then. Your shift is over anyway.”

“Thank you, Josh.” He slid out of the saddle, keeping the reins in one hand. He walked toward Etta, pulling the horse behind him. “And thank you, Etta. It was a nice offer.”

“I’m sure you’ve been up patrolling for a few hours now, haven’t you? The sun is down and it’s staring to get a little chilly. Some hot coffee should do you good.”

“You seemed a bit apprehensive back there,” Cal tied the reins of his horse to the wagon nearest him, which he assumed belonged to the Bridgewater family. Etta turned away from him slightly to look back at the campfire where her brother and sister in law were sitting. She folded her hands over her stomach and sighed softly.

“I’m worried about this journey,” she said, her voice quiet. Cal stopped to stand next to her, noticing the worry in her green eyes. “It is so dangerous. I… I know we have to make it. It’s vital that Nicholas get to Independence. There is a very important and well-paying job there for him. He can’t pass up this opportunity. We are determined to get him there.”

She moved her eyes back to catch Cal staring at her. She was such a lovely creature. He could barely keep himself from staring at her.

“You shouldn’t worry too much,” he said, trying his best to think of comforting words to say. “You are safe. This is… such a large group. There is safety in numbers. Right?”

He smiled warmly, hoping he’d given her a little comfort. When her features softened and she blinked several times, her eyes dropping to the ground, his heart skipped a beat.

“You’re right, I suppose,” she said in a voice so low he could barely hear it. “Come. Let me get you a cup of coffee and you can meet Nicholas and Laura.”

Chapter Three

Nicholas was a gentleman. Cal could tell that right away. He wasn’t a ranch hand or a bricklayer or a lumber yard foreman. He was a businessman. It surprised Cal that he and his wife and sister weren’t able to just take a train with all their supplies to Independence. But he wasn’t surprised for long. Nicholas was a talker and practically from the moment he met Cal, he didn’t stop.

After a half hour of getting the complete life story of Nicholas Bridgewater, Cal felt like he was a member of the family. He joked about it when Etta finally pulled him away by asking if he wanted to go for a walk around the compound.

“Uh oh, I’ve monopolized the man’s time. I’m so sorry, Etta.” Cal heard the teasing tone and instantly grinned at the sibling banter.

“Yes, you have. And don’t you know I’m going to tell him all about your childhood shenanigans while we’re walking. Oh, you gave Ma fits, didn’t you?”

Cal watched the two laugh pleasantly. Whatever Nicholas had done, it hadn’t been too bad.

Etta explained as they walked slowly around in the huge circle of wagons. “Nick and I were really good children,” she said. He enjoyed listening to her smooth, soft voice. Her laughter sounded like a tinkling bell in his ear, one he could listen to repeatedly for the rest of his life. He tried to bring his thoughts into focus and dampen his attraction to the woman.

He didn’t really know her well. And what was so special about him? He had nothing to offer her, that was for sure. He had his wagon, oxen, a horse and supplies to live and survive. That was about it. He had never been a gambler. A crippling inability to play the game stopped that before it started. He wasn’t much of a drinking man and he had a good brain in his head.

“When we were young,” Etta brought his attention back to her. “Nick used to tell me he would be president of the United States someday. That’s always been his interest. I never cared about politics, you know. There’s no reason for me to. I don’t have a say in anything anyway.”

“A lot more women are standing up for that right,” Cal said.

“I know. But I have other things to deal with in my life and that just doesn’t interest me. I think a woman should be able to vote if she wants to and maybe even go for an office of government. But not me.” She gave him a quizzical look and he nodded.

“I understand. I did notice his references to the political atmosphere when he was telling me about himself were quite often.”

Etta nodded. “That’s something I’ve gotten used to. If you are around us enough, you’ll get used to it, too. And he will try to find out what you believe about political issues.”

Cal had never thought about it before. He knew Nicholas was going to be the assistant to the mayor in Independence and it was important that he got there to fill that position. But Cal still didn’t understand why the mayor’s office couldn’t pay for Nicholas and his family to go to Missouri on a train, which was so much safer than by wagon train.

He didn’t feel it was his business so he didn’t pry by asking probing questions.

“There are a lot of families traveling to Missouri,” he remarked, looking around them at his fellow travelers. “And they all look so happy.”

Etta looked around them, too, and nodded. “Yes, I noticed that a lot of people are excited to be going. I… as I told you, I am worried. There are so many things that can go wrong. You were saying…” She was quiet for a moment. Cal let her gather her thoughts. “You were saying that you and Josh and some of the other men who are patrolling will keep us safe. But that is not as much my worry as someone getting sick. Especially with a disease or sickness that can be spread among the population. When there are a lot of people grouped together like this, the chances of that happening are higher.”

Cal had never thought of that before. He wondered if there was a doctor in the group. Surely, out of the hundreds of men going on the trip, there was at least one doctor. Or someone who knew something about medicine.

“I also worry about someone getting hurt. These children… they aren’t wise to travel. They don’t know what’s out there. They could fall and hurt themselves badly, run off and get lost… there’s just so much danger out there. And that worries me.”

Cal was touched that Etta was so concerned for children that weren’t hers, people that she wasn’t related to. He wanted to put his arm around her shoulders but it felt too forward. So he tucked his fingers into the front pocket of his trousers and resisted the urge.

“Those things could happen, you’re right,” he said, keeping his voice calm and low. “But accidents happen all the time. And people do get sick, you’re right. But right now, no one is sick. Everyone around us is smiling and happy and excited to go on this trip. If you spend all your time worrying about what might happen, you’ll miss out on the good times you could be having right now.”

Etta was quiet for a moment and then gave him a look that surprised him. It seemed her eyes had become misty, her expression grateful. “That is a wonderful way to look at it,” she said. “I wish I could think as positive as you do. What makes you think that way? All I can see is the danger ahead.”

Cal shook his head. “I just have faith that things will work out in the end. I’m not much of a fighting man but I can shoot a gun and I’m not afraid. But that doesn’t mean I want danger to come into my life. I’m still going to avoid it. I look for happiness, I like the smiles of people around me. It makes me feel good inside.”

Etta turned her head and swept her green eyes across the compound, taking in the laughing children, the men talking animatedly, the women giggling about something behind their hands. Cal didn’t know anything else he could say to ease her mind. She was right about the danger. Accidents could happen, children could get sick. In fact, chances were good those things would happen at least once in the next thousand miles.

But what good was worrying? It would only make the good times look bleak and the bad times even worse.

Cal silently made it his personal mission to keep Etta’s head up. He would encourage her and give her as much help as she needed to see that things weren’t as bad as she thought.

No matter what happened, he vowed. No matter what.

The longer he listened to her talk about her brother and sister in law, the loss of their parents, the way they had been raised by their aunt and uncle, who were strict but fair, the more attracted he was to her.

She’d had a very different life than his. He’d always been on his own, since the death of his own parents when he was young. He had no relatives that he knew of. No brothers or sisters.

He was alone in the world.

The sound of loud laughter pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked across the compound at a man and woman, who appeared to be wrestling but with no seriousness about it. He was obviously tickling her and she was screaming with laughter while their two young boys laughed and attacked their father.

Cal smiled at the sight of their fun. He glanced down at Etta, who was also watching them. The corners of her lips were pulled up. He could tell how much she liked what she was seeing.

“They’re having so much fun, aren’t they?” she asked in a melancholy voice. Cal looked over at the family again. He had a feeling Etta might be as lonely as he was.

“Yes, they are,” he replied, in a voice that matched hers. “I hope to have that someday.” He looked at her again. “Do you?”

She didn’t move her eyes from the frolicking family. “Yes. I sure do.”

“Ghosts of a Troubled Past” is an Amazon Best-Selling novel, check it out here!

Cal has been running away from a shadowy past ever since he was falsely accused for a murder he didn’t commit. Desperate to escape a vicious man who won’t stop following him until he gets revenge, he decides to get the Oregon trail and move as far as possible. There, he joins a small group of people to give his perilous journey a sense of safety. The balance is soon shaken though, when a sudden and mysterious murder makes Cal the main suspect. While the crime is being investigated, Cal will finally open up to Etta, a beautiful girl from his group who makes his heart shiver. How far will he go to prove his innocence without putting his friends at risk?

Etta is left with an incredible amount of debt after her parents’ death and has no choice but to leave everything behind. Seeking a better future, she travels out west with her brother and his wife, alongside a few other people trying to stay out of harm’s way. When Cal joins Etta’s group, her heart sparks for this mysterious man. Although the circumstances are rough and the journey is long, she finds it in her heart to join Cal in a dangerous mission to bring justice. When a heinous crime is committed, a perfect opportunity arises for them to find the man responsible for all the murders. Will she manage to protect Cal’s honor or will evil overpower good?

An intricate web of lies, corruption and murder will bring Cal and Etta closer while they are joining forces to fight injustice. Will their love have the chance to flourish on the trail of a criminal who spreads death on his way?

“Ghosts of a Troubled Past” is a historical adventure novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cliffhangers, only pure unadulterated action.

Get your copy from Amazon!