What is going to happen?Revised author signings/cartoon

Esther, at the top of the pile of rocks, defending herself and her family was grabbed by Mahtoree, the Chief of the Sioux band on the wide, low, vacant, beautiful, hilly, grassy prairie in the middle of the night. This pile of rocks was supposed to be impenetrable and easy to defend and Ishmael had left the family there while he and his sons went looking for their animals the Siouxes chased away.

Doctor Battius had earlier escaped on his asinus, and then the old trapper, the bee hunter, the soldier escaped from the Siouxes just before Mahtoree latched onto Esther. Ishmael and his boys were on their way back to the pile of rocks, but will they make it in time? Will they evade the Sioux band? Will Esther be killed? Will her young girlfriends and the girls in the family be killed? Hurry up, Ishmael!

And that's where I was cut off in the story, The Prairie, by James Fenimore Cooper, as I sat in the car in the parking lot in front of Michael's while my wife bought some Xmas decos. I'm a little more than halfway through the book as I only read it when I'm stuck like this. I will have to pick up on page 240, Chapter 22, to find out the outcome of this bind they're in, but that may not be until next year, the way it's going. I'm surprised that I still remember what was going on before today. The little band of travelers, however, have not moved very much from the pile of rocks for many pages, in fact, they haven't moved very much at all since the beginning of the book. The writing style of Mr. Cooper requires beaucoup words placed in certain flowery terms and slows down my pace, but I say it is a well-written work and well-worth the time it is taking. Oh, woe is me! What will happen next? I can't wait.


The heading photo is more of northern Arizona country after a light snow. I think it is the Little Colorado River  before running into the Colorado, or it may be the Colorado before reaching the Grand Canyon.

Revised schedule of author signing at Bell Mar Plaza, 114 Ave &:Bell Rd, Surprise, AZ:

Dec 9 - Conrad Storad, 11:30 - ?
Dec 10 - Brenda Heyward, 11:30 - ? Fiction writer specializing in inter-racial romance stories
Dec 16 - Yours truly from  11:30 to 2:30 PM.
Dec 17 - Ellen Calvert, 12:00 noon 'til 3:00 PM, Ellen will share her young children's works

Enjoy the day. And this cartoon: