“We’ve been invited to a round up at the ranch!” Bill shouted as he ran in the door.
Bill Rapp, the misplaced cowboy.
We had moved to New Mexico to go to NMSU. Bill thought he’d died and gone to Heaven. We rode horses in the Organ Mountains at Dripping Springs Ranch as deer frolicked on the hills beside us. It was majestic and awesome.
The ranch adventure would be different. It was Spring. The cattle would be driven from the far expanses of the forty-section ranch, into the corral where the calves would be branded.
To my thinking, Bill was born a hundred years too soon. Reared by grandparents, he has an other-century way of thinking. In his opinion, shoes should be made of cast iron so they’ll never wear out. And, his faith is strong and stable. He believes in God, family, country, and cowboy adventure.
At the round up, the patriarch of the family stayed at the house to fix lunch while calves were lassoed, wrestled to the dusty ground and branded. The cook fixed chili con verde in a pot over an open fire, placed a pan on top and baked a cake. All day, the wind blew dust devils across the dessert floor and into the food.
Cook chuckled, “Just a little fiber.”
Cowboy coffee was fantastic. A large enamel pot was filled with water, placed on the hot rocks, and a generous scoop of coffee was added. After boiling for three minutes, a cup of cold water was thrown in on top to set the process. The grounds sank to the bottom and the brew on top—was coffee. Bill thought it was the best food he’d ever eaten.
To Bill, the “old ways” are best: campfires, camp songs, cowboys, and hot coffee at sunset. His favorite books are paperback westerns, with strong, brave characters.
Christiana Applewait and Jason O’Reilly, in my novel, Length of Days - The Age of Silence, are brave in the face of danger, strong in their resolve to find a way to overturn the Length of Days law, and willing to act on their convictions. But, they don’t have God to call on. His name is forbidden to be spoken. And, their country has abandoned the very principles that made them people of love.
In 2112, Christiana’s life lacks the joy of riding in the mountains, singing over a campfire or reading a good book—since books and music were banned during the crisis of the previous century. But, Length of Days - The Age of Silence, has heros and heroines like those in Westerns.
One of Bill’s adventures in New Mexico was a chance to break a horse. He’d never done anything like that. But, it was an adventure he wouldn’t miss.
After many afternoons, the horse was broken so Bill took her out for an afternoon ride. She was skittish but followed his lead out into the foothills. Suddenly, a noise spooked her and she reared back, but Bill refused to be bucked off. He shouldn’t have forced a stand off, or fall off, with a palomino horse that stood fifteen hands high. The animal reared back so far it lost its balance and fell. At that point Bill decided that it was time to say “Uncle.” He calculated the trajectory of the horse’s fall and tried to roll off in the opposite direction. The horse twisted, rolled over on Bill’s legs and pinned him down.
Bill was finally able to get free but couldn’t stand up. With upper body strength, he pulled on the stirrup until he finally hefted himself across the saddle like a six-point trophy buck.
Bill walked like a crumpled old cowboy for weeks. His further adventures in the mountains had to wait.
What Christiana and Jason found at Howard Mountain was neither majestic nor beautiful. The evil they encountered there was horrifying. Length of Days - The Age of Silence is not a paperback western one reads to pass a few hours. It’s a book of hope, inspiration, love, and one that you can’t put down.
What genre is my 2112 novel? Someone told me, “There is no genre that fits your book. That’s a Tea Party novel.”
Yes, Christiana, Jason, and their friends are trying to find a way to return the country to the original Constitution and Bill of Rights that had been changed a hundred years previous. It’s a love story too, of awakening to a life of feeling and emotion. It’s a book in which Gift Giving Day returns to Christmas Celebration. Length of Days has a Christian outlook in a futuristic setting. Now, that is a fascinating genre!
Book two, Length of Days - Valley of the Keepers © will be released at the end of the year. I’ll keep you posted.
Copyright 2012 Doris Gaines Rapp
eBook available @ www.bn.com or www.amazon.com Print book @ www.dorisgainesrapp.com
