Between the Sun and the Rainbow

By Eileen Schuh

Nine-year-old Danielle’s parents are getting divorced and she doesn’t think things can get any worse—but they definitely don’t seem to be getting any better, either.

Her mother takes her and her older brother, Jayson, thousands of kilometers from their Toronto home to the old family homestead on the Alberta prairie. Inside and outside of the rundown shack that is now home, everything is strange and frightening.

Her mother says they will connect with nature on the farm and begin to heal but to Danielle, it seems a very painful way to heal.

Little by little, however, she learns about herself, her ancestors, and what a family is all about. With help from her new community, her pets, and those who love her, she just might begin to find the peace and happiness she needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eileen Schuh
• Release date: Oct 25, 2019
• ISBN: 9780995297593

Eileen Schuh

Eileen Schuh is excited to announce the release of Book 1 in her PROJECT W.Olf trilogy. The entire e-Series along with the paperback will be available before yearend. Wolfsinger Publications out of Colorado, U.S.A. is her SciFi publisher and has also previously released her two adult Science Fiction thrillers, SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT and DISPASSIONATE LIES.In addition to her sci-fi books, Schuh has released four novels in her ongoing BackTracker crime series that centers on biker gangs, drug dealing, murder, computer hackers, international espionage and the role of law enforcement. Books in the series include THE TRAZ, FATAL ERROR, FIREWALLS and OPERATION MAXTRACKER. Her adult crime thriller, SHADOW RIDERS, runs parallel to her BackTracker series and is partially set in an exotic South Korean locale.Her children's novel BETWEEN THE SUN AND THE RAINBOW, is a tribute to her ancestors and a gift to her grandchildren. Loosely based on her childhood growing up on a small prairie farm, the book seeks to provide a link between generations.Schuh writes psychological thrillers across genres but is perhaps best known for the surprising and satisfying endings. Whether it is travel to quantum physics’ alternate universes in SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT, a glimpse into the future of the computer in DISPASSIONATE LIES, or a look at the weird world of genetic manipulations in PROJECT W.Olf, Schuh is sure to entertain.Born Eileen Fairbrother in Tofield, Alberta, Schuh lives in Canada’s northern boreal forests and draws her inspiration from the wilderness, her grandchildren, family and friends, and her adopted community of St. Paul.All Schuh’s books are available in both eBook and paperback formats.

Book preview

Between the Sun and the Rainbow

Eileen Schuh

Between the Sun and the Rainbow

Copyright 2019 by Eileen Schuh. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission from the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

www.eileenschuh.com

FIRST EDITION eBook

Kastle Harbour Publishing

ISBN: 978-0-9952975-9-3

Cover design by Avalon Graphics

www.avalongraphics.org

Front cover sketch: Eileen Schuh

Editor: Elaine Denning

www.elainedenning.com/

Proof Reader: Maureen Vincent-Northam

www.maureen-vincent-northam.co.uk

Formatter: Rebecca Emin

www.gingersnapbooks.co.uk

Other Novels by Eileen Schuh:

DISPASSIONATE LIES

SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT

SHADOW RIDERS

The BackTracker Series:

THE TRAZ

FATAL ERROR Book 2

FIREWALLS Book 3

OPERATION MAXTRACKER Book 4

This book is a tribute to my ancestors,

a gift to my grandchildren,

and a link to bind us all together.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins

Chapter 2: The Little Log House

Chapter 3: Something Very Scary

Chapter 4: The Adventure Gets Worse

Chapter 5: Meeting the Neighbour

Chapter 6: Family History Lesson

Chapter 7: The Night is Very Dark

Chapter 8: Sniper and the Cattle

Chapter 9: Between the Sun and the Rainbow

Chapter 10: The Lady with Purple Lips

Chapter 11: Nothing to Do but Cry

Chapter 12: Walking Brave

Chapter 13: Tiny Kittens

Chapter 14: Where the Past and Future Meet

Chapter 15: The Adventure Gets Better

Chapter 16: A Sense of Doom

Chapter 17: Bad Things, Good Things

Chapter 18: Little Owl Comes Home

Chapter 19: Wonderful Moments

Chapter 20: Harvesting the Garden

Chapter 21: Ghosts in the Tree House

Chapter 22: Suns and Shadows

Chapter 23: The Day Everything Went Wrong

Chapter 24: It’s All About Love

Chapter 25: Toronto

Chapter 26: Working Things Out

Chapter 27: New Adventures Begin

Afterword: Which parts of Between the Sun and the Rainbow are True?

About the Author

Discussion Questions

CHAPTER 1

The Adventure Begins

The journey that she’d not wanted to start was soon to end. Behind her, the sun was setting while out front, the shadow of the car was racing down an endless black ribbon of pavement. From every window, flat, colourless farmland stretched into the distance until it met the sky. Danielle yawned.

This morning when she’d boarded the plane in Toronto with her mother and her older brother, Jayson, the rising April sun had been painting the eastern horizon a pale pink. For hours and hours, while flying far above the clouds, they’d chased that sun. Mom had pointed out the Great Lakes beneath them, the Canadian Shield and eventually the prairies. Nine-year old Danielle had tried to imagine what all that would have looked like if she’d been down there on the ground.

When they’d finally landed in Edmonton, Danielle had wheeled her suitcase through the airport and stood on wobbly legs as she waited for Mom to get their rental car. It seemed to take forever. Finally, feeling as if she were in dream, Danielle staggered across the pavement to the shiny red car Mom said was theirs, and climbed into the back seat. It smelled like a Christmas tree. She sniffed again. There was no hint of the empty candy wrappers, crayons, sweaty gym shoes and canvas backpacks that greeted her when she climbed into her car back home. It smelled like a Christmas tree in a room washed with a lemony cleaner.

They’d only driven a few minutes, when Mom pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store. Do I have to get out? Danielle moaned.

Jayson can come with me to help with the shopping if you want to stay here, Mom agreed.

Danielle snuggled down in the back seat. She wasn’t dreaming about much of anything and, in fact, hadn’t even realize she’d fallen asleep when voices woke her. Behind her, the back hatch was slowly lifting. Mom and Jayson were standing beside a full grocery cart, talking quietly. They loaded the food into the car and climbed in.

Did you get a nap, Danielle? Mom asked as she buckled herself into the driver’s seat and turned the ignition key.

I guess so. Danielle still felt very tired. She rolled her jacket into a ball, pressed it against the backseat window and rested her head on it like a pillow. She could see her mom’s reflection in the rear view mirror. Her eyelashes looked like they were floating on tears.

Mom wiped a finger across the corners of her dark eyes, brushed at the red and brown curls framing her face and sighed. Although she had told Jayson and Danielle to consider the trip an exciting adventure, Danielle was pretty sure her mom was as unhappy as she was.

Danielle closed her eyes.

She remembered standing beside her mother and watching a realtor pound a ‘For Sale’ sign into their front lawn. When a couple gets divorced, Mom had calmly said, everything has to be divided and shared. We’ll find a smaller house. It’s all we really need for the three of us. Danielle had thought everything was going to be okay. Later, though, she’d overheard her mom and dad talking and knew that everything was not okay.

She didn’t want to think about what her dad had said. Danielle flicked open her eyes and peered at her brother.

Jayson’s head was resting on his shoulder. His eyes were closed and his iPod was about to fall from his fingers. Last week he’d asked her if he was growing whiskers by his ears. Although she’d said yes, the fine blond hairs lying flat along the curve of his jaw were too soft to be whiskers.

Jayson had told her that since Dad was no longer around, he was now the man of the family. However, Danielle didn’t think her twelve-year-old brother looked anything like a man, even though he’d cut his brown hair short, parted it on the side, and taken out his earring. And even though, last week, Mom had told Jayson that she thought his shoulders were starting to fill out.

In the front seat of the car, where Dad usually would be, there was an empty space.

The last time Danielle had seen her father had been the night the house had sold. He’d rung the doorbell and her mother had answered. He never used to ring the bell, he’d just walk in. Or, if the door was locked, he’d use his key. He had stepped into the foyer and stood there, stiff and stern, as if he were a stranger. Danielle had clung to her mother’s leg and peeped up at him.

Daddy? she’d asked.

Hello, Danielle. Her father nodded at her and then quickly shifted his eyes to Mom.

I have to talk to your father, her mother said. You kids go to your rooms.

Danielle had flopped onto her bed, plugged her music into her ears, and stared at the ceiling. When loud voices from the kitchen began to override her tunes, Danielle ripped off her headphones and tiptoed to the door. She pressed her ear against the white paneled door.

Dan! her mother yelled. What am I supposed to do with two kids, no money, and no house?

It doesn’t have to be that way, Jen, her father said in a low, even voice. It’s your unreasonable demands that are tying up things. Keep demanding and the lawyers will get everything.

I’m only asking that our children get their fair share.

Keep asking and you won’t get anything.

Don’t threaten me!

There had been more angry words and then her father had left.

Two days later, Mom had asked her and Jayson to join her at the table. A wonderful thing has happened, she said. That was Uncle Stan on the phone—

Who’s Uncle Stan? Jayson asked.

My brother. You met him once a long time ago. You probably don’t remember. Anyway, Uncle Stan is going to work overseas for a year or two and has offered us his home while he’s gone.

Where’s his home? Jayson asked.

Near Tofield, Alberta. On the farm. The very same cabin in which I grew up.

Alberta? Jayson moaned.

Think of it as an exciting adventure.

CHAPTER 2

The Little Log House

Hey, Danielle, wake up! her mother called as the car came to a stop. Jayson! We’re here.

Danielle straightened and unsnapped her seatbelt. She rolled down the car window and stared at the log house. It looked nothing like the beautiful cabins she’d seen in magazines. The logs were weathered grey, gnarled, and rough with bark. In the corners where two walls met, the ends of the logs overlapped at different lengths. The only windows on the front of the house were two small ones peeking out of the roof above the entry. An old, slivery door hung lopsidedly on rusted hinges.

A muddy mix of half-frozen clay and scraggly bits of quack grass spread from the car to the front door. Danielle’s mother turned off the engine. A horrible, heavy silence followed.

Wake up your brother, Danielle, her mother finally said.

Danielle wiped at the tears in her eyes and poked her brother’s shoulder. Jayson! We’re here— A sob caught her voice. She swallowed and blinked quickly.