Chosen (book 1 of the White Stone trilogy)

By Cheryl J Rodriguez

When Ethel hears rumors about an uprising across the lake, it seems like a distant matter for the adults to debate. Ethel has her own problems to worry about, anyway. But when the violence marches into her hometown, it is much worse than the rumors suggested. Ethel finds herself pulled into an ancient fight for humanity against an evil so dark and powerful it plans to destroy them all...Unless Ethel can put aside her fears and trust in a God she barely knows.

Ethel has no idea, but she is chosen. Will she find the courage she needs to be the hero the world is desperate for or will she and everything she knows and loves be destroyed?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cheryl J Rodriguez
• Release date: Jul 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311760661

Cheryl J Rodriguez

Cheryl J Rodriguez was born in Tahlequah, Ok and grew up with a love of writing. One PhD, a career in product development and two kids later, she is back to writing. She just completed her first book, Chosen, in the trilogy White Stone.Cheryl is a single mom and currently lives in Florida with her two fun and busy kids and her cute and crazy dog, Oscar. She is now writing EPOH, the next book in the White Stone trilogy.

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Book 1 of the White Stone trilogy

Cheryl J Rodriguez

Copyright © 2014 by Cheryl J Rodriguez.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods.

Smashwords Edition

Chosen/ Cheryl J Rodriguez isbn: 9781311760661

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, World English Bible, WEB.

For Sam and Isabel

How It All Started

Not too many days ago, although the exact number of days she could no longer be sure of, Ethel’s morning had started out the way she liked it: routine and under control. She awoke before the first robin tweeted. She slid out from under her little sister’s arm. The cold that seeped through the floorboards and windows pricked at her skin. Her sister, Opal, rolled over in her sleep and muttered something. Ethel pulled up the blanket that lay in a crumpled heap at her feet, covering Opal’s tiny body. She smiled. Opal could be a pain, but she was cute when she slept. She tucked the worn corner that Opal liked to rub with her fingers as she quieted at night under her little chin and watched her take a deep breath.

I’ll bring you something for dinner, Ethel whispered.

Ethel and Opal’s room was once a back porch. Her dad had boarded it up to make a bedroom after Ethel and Opal grew too big to continue sleeping on a mat in their parents’ room. A trunk, that held Opal’s clothes and a couple of dolls, was their bedside table. This was her space; the threadbare blue and yellow rug that she had gotten from a neighbor in exchange for a bag of mushrooms, the colorful rocks and huge pinecones that she had lined up along the windowsills and the two, pretty hooks that one of her only friends, Truman, had given her. The two hooks held three outfits and a sweater. Ethel pulled on her sweater over the thin shirt she wore. As she smoothed her hair into a neat bun, dawn stretched her arms and parted the black curtain of night, revealing a cloudless sky. This would be a perfect day for mushroom hunting.

Loud, broken snores from her parents’ room covered any noise she made as she crept across the small front room of the house. She listened carefully to those snores. They belonged to her dad. If the noise stopped, it meant she had to dart out of the house faster than he lumbered out of his room. He was a man who awoke thinking about what people ought to be doing for him. It made him miserable and he made sure his family suffered for it.

Ethel grabbed a boiled egg, a small block of cheese and a half-eaten loaf of bread from the pantry. She grabbed the handle of the front door just as her dad’s snoring cut off. She froze. She waited, listening for his next movement, her heart pounding.

A gurgle, followed by a sharp noise from his throat and then a long snore caused mixed emotions for Ethel. Relief because the noise meant he still slept and disappointment because he lived to bully them another day. This is how the man slept though, one minute roaring like a beast and the next minute falling silent as death.

Ethel opened the door and grabbed the rough cloth sack she used for collecting mushrooms. She took extra time to close the door behind her as quietly as possible. She took a deep breath of the brisk, autumn air, infused with wood fires and leaves. She felt the tension flow out of her body. She stuffed the bread and cheese into a pocket her mom had sewed onto the outside of her sack and ducked under the large green flag that hung at the front of their porch.

The flag symbolized a growing movement calling for freedom from the strict laws that governed everything from whom they sold their harvest to each year, to how much they could earn from it. Ethel listened to the ladies talk with her mom for long hours. She now knew the movement originated in Sun Valley, a coastal community with a large farming economy. The people there rebelled against their queen, and won their freedom to make their own laws. About half the ladies thought they should do the same in their own community. The others thought it would just cause more problems.

Ethel wasn’t sure how she felt about it. She had heard her dad grumble many times about how the government forced them to sell their harvest through Self’s Import-Exports. Her dad thought the Self family was corrupt, keeping more than their share of the money. The queen, he said, benefited from the deal also, while all of the farmers and mushroom hunters, who did the actual work, were left with nothing. But the Green Flag Movement stirred anger in her dad that made Ethel squirm and so she found herself wishing the whole movement would just go away.

Ethel peeled and nibbled on her boiled egg as she picked her way through the woods to her favorite mushroom-hunting spot, a thickly wooded area that smelled of damp earth near a steep, rocky hillside. The morning was light now and birds chatted overhead. A small poster hung on a nearby trunk, advertising the Harvest Festival. The festival was held each year in celebration of their harvest and the money brought in to sustain the community over the coming winter. But, this year, someone had stolen their entire harvest and the families would get nothing. Ethel’s mom cried. Her dad raged and then bought a bigger green flag. Ethel decided to go mushroom hunting. She immediately found her first mushroom, an indigo that she knew would pull in a high price, and then found six more right around the base of the nearest tree.

She worked quickly, absorbed in scouting for the next group of mushrooms when a nearby twig cracked and jolted her out of her concentration. Truman, the boy who gave her the hooks for her room, stood a few feet away grinning at her.

Hi there! His sandy hair looked uncombed and he wore no shoes, many kids in their community owned none and Truman, being one of seven kids in his family, never wore them. His grin caused two dimples to sink into his cheeks and his eyes to sparkle. He had a bruise above his left eye and carried a sack with him that matched Ethel’s.

Hi. Did you decide to try and help replace the stolen harvest, too?

Yeah. I tried to sign up to be a guard with two of my older brothers but Howard wouldn’t let me. Howard was the head of the castle guard for their community and father to a girl their age named Grace.

Howard is taking on new castle guards? Ethel asked.

Are you really that out of the loop? Truman laughed and shook his head. The queen hired an outside agency to increase our security after our harvest got stolen. Howard is still the leader but my dad said it is on paper only. The new company is paying really good wages and the guards get to carry weapons! It isn’t fair that I can’t sign up!

Why wouldn’t Howard let you join?

I’m not old enough.

Is that where you hurt your eye? Ethel asked, pointing to his face.

Nah. I got in a fight yesterday.

He didn’t say anything more about it, so Ethel went back to hunting. She handed him the next indigo mushroom she found, You can join me if you want. I am finding a lot of indigos this morning. They bring in a high price. I probably already have enough for my family and I am going to donate the rest at the Harvest Festival.

Thanks! I would have never been able to find this many on my own. You have a keen eye for finding hidden things in the leaves.

Ethel blushed at the compliment.

By mid-afternoon, both of their bags bulged with mushrooms, many of them the rare indigos and Ethel felt elated at the thought of the money they would bring in, not just for their own families, but for the community.

They munched on the cheese and bread Ethel had brought, and took the long way back home so that Truman could try again to sign up to be a guard.

As they approached Main Street, Grace came crashing towards them through the trees. She was a tall, thin girl with dark hair and expressive eyes. Ethel did not know her very well, but since her dad worked for the queen, Ethel assumed she lived up on the cliff with the other rich families. But, she found it intriguing that Grace did not dress like the other rich families. Today was no different. Grace wore baggy pants and an oversized, wrinkled shirt.

The pastor and his family are dead! Grace said with wide eyes as she reached them. I’m going up to the church to see if I can help! Do you want to come with me?"

Ethel felt stunned, Sure, I can help.

Truman dropped his bag, Let’s go!

Wait! said Ethel. You can’t just drop your bag right here and run off! What if someone takes it or if you can’t remember where you put it? Anyway, don’t you want to sign up to be a guard first? Ethel walked over to a tree that had been hit by lightning and placed her bag in the blackened hole. Truman shoved his bag in and they began walking in the direction of the church.

You are too young to sign up anyway, Grace said.

Yeah, but only your dad knows that, laughed Truman, I was going to see if he is still there.

He went up to the church, but he specifically told them not to let you sign up, said Grace.

I’m surprised your dad let you come into town today, said Truman, since he is too busy to watch over you and there is a lot going on with the guard sign-ups.

I talked him into letting me come with him this morning. He has been coming home telling us about the green flag movement and I wanted to see how many shops hung the flags. It is exciting to see so many flags.

She was surprised to hear a wealthy citizen like Grace, supporting the movement. The taxes benefited her dad, who worked for the queen.

Did you assume I would be against the green flag movement? Grace said.

Ethel hated feeling put on the spot like that. She nodded, A little.

My dad says the movement is all about giving the poor their deserved rights. But, he won’t voice his opinion because the queen and my mom and all the other wealthy think the movement will cause instability like it did in Sun Valley. It makes me so mad that he won’t speak up when it is the right thing to do! He is too worried about pleasing everyone else!

Well, you speak up then, said Truman.

I think I will, said Grace.

The big church building rose above the trees on a hill that overlooked the town. Copper spires pierced the sky from its tall pointed roof. Her family attended church services there once a year at Easter because her mom insisted. Every year, her dad got mad and barked about church being a big conspiracy to make everyone act like sheep and follow some guy named Shamar who headed all of the churches from his cushy home in the fashionable coastal city of Authen. Although Ethel didn’t really agree with her dad, she also didn’t give the subject a whole lot of thought. Easter only came once a year so whether or not this man in Authen controlled people had no impact on her life. She believed in God, like her mom and she prayed at meals with her mom and Opal whenever her dad wasn’t around to shout at them over it. Thus, she learned that although God was real and powerful, her dad was more real and more powerful and she ought to place her faith accordingly. Not that she placed her faith in her dad; that would be stupid. Her faith lay in her knowledge that her best chance at surviving each day rested in her ability to recognize her dad’s moods. Fear grew thick like a fungus on the very air that she breathed in that house.

The area around the church was thick with castle guard and community members trying to help. Ethel recognized their faces. She did not live in a very large community. She saw the same faces year after year. Today, many looked distressed. A few of the women stood in groups hugging. Some cried. Ethel, Grace and Truman stood at the edge of the yard and watched.

What kind of person would do such a thing? Ethel finally said out loud what she had been wondering.

It would have to be a sick person, said Truman.

They all fell silent for a few minutes.

Now that I’m here, I don’t really know how to help, Grace said.

I’m not sure there is anything for us to do, said Truman.

I hope they find out who is responsible, said Ethel.

My dad will figure it out, said Grace.

Speaking of your dad, said Truman. He pointed at Grace’s tall father striding towards them in his guard uniform.

Uh oh, said Grace, He told me not to come up here.

Howard stopped in front of Grace, I told you to stay put, young lady!

I know. I am sorry, said Grace.

The person who committed this murder might still be in the woods around here! All three of you go home this instant! Grace, your mother will be worried sick! I will deal with you when I get home!

That scared Ethel enough to send her straight to her bag of mushrooms and then home. When she walked through her front door the sun already sank behind the trees. She found her mom and sister at the dinner table eating soup and bread. They jumped up from the table and ran to her, peering into her bulging bag.

You found so many! her mom said, smiling at her.

Ethel nodded, I want to give whatever you don’t need to the community stockpile at the Harvest Festival.

Of course, dear! said her mom, Three or four of those indigo’s would bring in enough money for us to eat through the winter. Why don’t you give the rest away?

Ethel loved her mom. She thanked her and then, as they talked over the hot soup, she told them about the guard sign-ups, about Howard losing some of his power to an outside guard company and about the incident at the