Merlynn

By Jeffery Martin Botzenhart

Passion and danger linger under the watchful eye of the Angel of Death.

Water has been thought to be the key to life, yet some fear what lurks in the shadowy depths. This is where the Angel of Death is said to reap the souls of those destined for watery graves.

Amidst the Autumn of 1933, during the Great Depression, a young coal miner from Pennsylvania and a beautiful farm girl from Nebraska find their lives impossibly entwined. When submerged in water, both can travel great distances to each other’s homes in a matter of minutes. Bound by passion and love, neither can explain how this is possible. An unimaginable force has brought them together, yet a very real threat could tear them apart.

Unknown to them, the answers to all their questions remain with the Angel of Death. He stays hidden in the water’s shadowy depths and waits to exact his revenge upon the one who sought to challenge his mastery of death.

PUBLISHER NOTE: M/F Paranormal Romance. 19,000 words.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luminosity Publishing LLP
• Release date: Aug 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005299262

Jeffery Martin Botzenhart

I was born on November 9, 1967 in Warren, Ohio and grew up in a country trailer park in Southington Ohio with my two brothers and parents.I currently live in Girard, Ohio with my wife and sons. After graduating from Chalker High School in 1986, I went on to attend Kent State University.Originally, I sought to pursue a degree in education, but changed degrees after a few years in school. After working my way through college for eight years, I graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations.Aside from writing, I also draw and paint. My other passion is soccer. I have proudly been a coach of a soccer team for autistic and special needs players.

Book preview

MERLYNN

Another Time – Book Four

JEFFERY MARTIN BOTZENHART

Passion and danger linger under the watchful eye of the Angel of Death.

Water has been thought to be the key to life, yet some fear what lurks in the shadowy depths. This is where the Angel of Death is said to reap the souls of those destined for watery graves.

Amidst the Autumn of 1933, during the Great Depression, a young coal miner from Pennsylvania and a beautiful farm girl from Nebraska find their lives impossibly entwined. When submerged in water, both can travel great distances to each other’s homes in a matter of minutes. Bound by passion and love, neither can explain how this is possible. An unimaginable force has brought them together, yet a very real threat could tear them apart.

Unknown to them, the answers to all their questions remain with the Angel of Death. He stays hidden in the water’s shadowy depths and waits to exact his revenge upon the one who sought to challenge his mastery of death.

PUBLISHER NOTE: M/F Paranormal Romance. 19,000 words.

MERLYNN

Another Time – Book Four

JEFFERY MARTIN BOTZENHART

WWW.LUMINOSITYPUBLISHING.COM

LUMINOSITY PUBLISHING LLP

MERLYNN

Another Time – Book Four

Copyright © AUGUST 2021 JEFFERY MARTIN BOTZENHART

Cover Art by Poppy Designs

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this literary work may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

The author acknowledges the trademark status and the following trademark owners mentioned in this work of fiction:

DEDICATION

My grandfather told me that if you have a talent, you should share it with the world. Someday you might become rich and famous for it. Though I’ve been told I have a talent for writing, maybe the rich and famous will come someday. So, this is for Papap, my grandfather. I hope he would have been proud of me.

CHAPTER ONE

October 1933

When Aaron Morrison stepped outside onto his small porch, the aged wooden planks emitted their timeworn distress as he glanced toward the field to his left. The trees in the distance were shrouded by a veil of fog, rendering them as faint ghosts. The warm mist from his exhaled breath vanished instantly in the chilled air as he descended a step to the grass soaked with heavy morning dew. Whitish-grey shaded clouds seemed suspended in mid-air as in silence he walked away. As he passed through a tranquil forest lane, he noticed the tree trunks and foliage almost colorless from the somber sky.

Aaron halted his stride when a doe stepped forth from the thick brush. It was held still at the lane’s center. There was no fear in its stance as it lingered there to look at Aaron. For a moment it simply stared at him. After bowing its head slightly, the doe disappeared back into the brush, soon hidden as if it were never there. Aaron continued on as the calm of the forest would yield to the awakening of the valley below, giving way to the sounds of the arising day.

When he reached the crest of a hill, Aaron appeared from the edge of the forest to spy down upon the small mining center of Yukon, Pennsylvania. The town consisted of a patch of severely aged multiple-family dwellings, a mercantile, a school, a fire station, and the sprawling coal mining grounds and rails of the Commonwealth Mining Company, set into the hillside farthest from the patch. All in sight appeared ashen grey within a haze of smoke billowing from chimneys to match the sunless sky. The one exception to this was the brilliant-white-walled church perched high over the town on the hillside opposite the coal mine, a beacon of light and hope amidst the despairing landscape.

The ominous high-pitched screech of the firehouse siren echoed piercingly throughout the valley, signaling the men to work. While Aaron strode down the lane toward the patch, the people from the dwellings emerged quietly, almost simultaneously to one another. The men, dressed in their uniforms and hard hats, stepped forth first, with their wives and children following behind. Once the men reached the edge of the brick-layered street, they held still. Some stood firm in waiting while a few glanced with blank expressions back to their families. Not one uttered a word. With the church bells then sounding out, each fell into lines as they marched onward to the coal mines. Aaron stood at the rear. The women remained in place, waiting to lead the children to school once the men were out of sight.

The grinding of boots tapping and scraping against the road’s brick surface held a steady rhythm uncorrupted by quiet exchanges between the men. Each man stared forward, none appearing to succumb to thoughts of looking at each other or back to those left behind. Yet Aaron’s eyes wandered to glance upon the families solemnly watching as fathers and husbands marched away to the abyss of the black seam. Hours immersed within the dimly lit tunnels leading to a darkened purgatory would yield a pittance of a wage to barely survive with. Over time, fear and anxiety so clear in the eyes of the women had altered to a melancholy acceptance that the man she saw off might not return when the church bells tolled the hour of five in the late afternoon, heralding relief for some and grief for others.

As they neared the gates to the mines, one