Cutter's Fall

By M.L. Sanford

Young Ben and his mother escape from the city to a small mountain town in the middle of the night without any belongings, and little money. Somehow they survive, and Ben thrives. His interest in all things mechanical leads him to form a unique relationship with the local train engineer and the old steam locomotive as well. All three find themselves in a life and death adventure. Some survive it, some don't.

• Language: English
• Publisher: M.L. Sanford
• Release date: Mar 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9780986379109

M.L. Sanford

M. L. Sanford is a freelance writer and author, living in Decatur, Georgia for the past thirty years. He loves all fiction genres (well, almost all) but is particularly fond of mystery, suspense and thrillers, with an occasional dose of romance weaved in for that extra spice that benefits all good tales. At the culmination of a thirty-four year career as an Architect, Mark wanted a change. Since then, Mark has put his heart and soul into a writing career, creating stories that enlighten, delight and even fright. All of his novels contain some level of mystery or suspense, sometimes dark, and sometimes set at places around the world. His writing style has hints of, and similarities to, H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe. “I suppose my architectural background has something to do with that. My sense of scene details and spatial awareness, a skill needed in architecture, seems to come out in my writing. I hope it adds another layer to the reader’s experience and enjoyment of my stories." The mystery and suspense are not limited to novels either. Mark’s unique writing style is expressed in his short stories, possible more so, the shorts offering a less controlled and rigid environment. Some have even called them unconventional and experimental. But all his stories are equally intriguing and thought provoking. You decide.

Book preview

Cutter’s Fall

M. L. Sanford

ArchitectM, Inc., Smashwords Edition, March 2015

Copyright 2015, by M. L. Sanford

Illustrations copyright 2015, by M. L. Sanford

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

Published in the United States by ArchitectM, Inc.

ISBN 978-0-9863791-0-9

This work is a fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have control or assume responsibility for third party websites or their content.

This ebook is licensed for your enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords or the Author website and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Benjamin stood next to her, clinging to her one knee for dear life. The wind whipped at his trousers, nearly pulling his little legs out from under him. He looked up at her with a mixture of terror and exhilaration, wanting to climb up into her arms. She paid no attention, staring out the boxcar's open door, intent on the dark landscape, blurry and featureless, rushing there, somewhere out beyond the night veil that shrouded their view out.

Giant steel wheels below his feet squealed shrilly, its high pitched sound piercing, making him wince from the stabbing pain to his ear drums. The floor below him jerked and shifted, twisting a degree, then sharper, followed by the odd roll in his stomach. His sense of speed reduced, the colossal snaking man-made contrivance of steel and wood upon which they rode rounded a bend in the tracks. The thunderous rattle and clatter of aging metal mechanisms calmed suddenly, the winds force through the open door waning, as if taking a deep breath, readying for another exhale.

Her grip on his shirt collar grew suddenly tighter, choking him, he felt her leg tense, muscles flexing, ready to spring. She sensed the right moment.

Jump! Jump now! she screamed. She pulled him with her into the darkness.

***

Benjamin sometimes woke up with a start in the middle of the night, sweating; the images of their desperate flight from the city and that awful tumble from the steam locomotive train the most likely cause. He didn't remember much before that event; she never spoke about it to him and he didn't ask. Still the questions haunted his dreams; why did they have to leave, who was his father, did he leave and where was he now—was he dead?

They arrived penniless and homeless, no belongings except what she carried in her small tattered canvas bag, hoping to make a new start away from the misfortunes of her former existence. In any other place they might have met with even greater calamity. Here they found helping hands, the inhabitants accustomed to hardship and suffering, only a few generations previous having survived persecution and discrimination; they themselves finding refuge here in the high country.

The landscape of their new home, high steep mountains formed a millennia ago, was so