Blood in the Light

By JC Crumpton

The Willis brothers just buried their father. They suspect Ezra's business partner Abner Scott had something to do with it—all in the name of profiting from the sell of land to the railroad companies.

 

Hot-headed, youngest brother Zeke wants to take matters into his own hands to prove he's as much a man as his older brothers. Quiet, sensible middle brother Rondal puts their mother's well-being first and foremost. Oldest brother Jerome puts the family honor first, but he's not about to go against their mother's wishes…just yet.

 

Vengeance is often wanted but rarely the best course of action. It festers and ruins more families than the wrongs it rights. The Willis brothers need to avenge their father. How far will they go in pursuit of bringing the man they hold responsible for their father's death to justice—even if it is at the end of a rope instead of in a courtroom before a judge.

 

The story starts in Baxter Springs, Kansas but travels across the territory to pursue something that may neither be just nor in the best interests of the Willis family.

 

[previously published under the title Field of Strong Men]

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carter Vaye Productions
• Release date: May 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9798985384147

JC Crumpton

JC Crumpton was born in Southern California and grew up in San Diego, Chicago, Iceland, Germany, and Arkansas. He lives in Northwest Arkansas with his wife, his cat, and her dog.

Book preview

Blood in the Light

JC Crumpton

Published by Carter Vaye Productions, 2023.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

BLOOD IN THE LIGHT

First edition. May 9, 2023.

Copyright © 2023 JC Crumpton.

ISBN: 979-8985384147

Written by JC Crumpton.

Also by JC Crumpton

In the Midst of Chaos

Blood in the Light (Coming Soon)

Watch for more at JC Crumpton’s site.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Also By JC Crumpton

Dedication

BLOOD IN THE LIGHT

Sign up for JC Crumpton's Mailing List

Further Reading: In the Midst of Chaos

Also By JC Crumpton

About the Author

This is for the storytellers and the troubadours.

Special thanks to Gil Miller, editor, Chrissi Crumpton, photographer, and Carol Bloomgarden, cover design.

BLOOD IN THE LIGHT

Mama never said a word the entire funeral. She quietly cried, tears cascading down her face to be soaked up by the handkerchief she held over her mouth. Zeke could not stop trembling. Every muscle in his body shook, but the worst tremors began in his shoulders and rumbled across his chest until he felt like something wanted to burst from beneath his very skin.

With the edges of his eyes filled with tears and his vision blurred, he cast occasional glances at his two brothers. Rondal stood to Mama’s left and held his arm around her shoulders, brown eyes puffy and dark. On her right Jerome clenched his hands into fists tight enough that his knuckles whitened and veins popped up beneath the skin. Jerome, the eldest of the three Willis brothers, glared over their father’s coffin at Abner Scott, pursing his lips together in a thin line and flaring his nostrils with each breath as his chest filled and emptied like a blacksmith’s bellow.

Ezra Willis loved his wife, his sons, and his community, Parson Jim Watkins said.

He held his worn, leather-bound Bible in front of him, open to some passage or another, but the man never looked down at the pages. With the scriptures resting in his left hand and his right placed gently on top, he looked out at the people gathered in the cemetery west of town. He addressed the crowd in his best Sunday sermon voice. The man possessed a talent that made Zeke feel like the man’s eyes locked right onto him, but he could never tell if the parson met his eyes or not. Zeke tried to listen to the parson’s message, but he could only think about how he would never talk to his father and never go fishing or hunting with him again.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

Zeke could not help but to look across at Abner, their father’s business partner, but the man Jerome held responsible for Ezra’s death. Marshall Charles Baker told them it had been an accident, a misunderstanding. Their mother had gasped, her eyes wide and her mouth agape when Jerome had spit on the marshal’s boots. Funny how with their father gone, Abner was free to pursue a business decision that their father had opposed, Jerome had pointed out to Marshal Baker.

Abner’s nephew, Luke Drinkwater stood beside him—a young man that had spent the last four years since the end of the Civil War being run out of town after town all across Texas for gambling and fighting. Until his uncle had taken him in and given him a job, according to what their father had told them. It seemed Abner felt he could use Luke’s skills with the revolver in settling some outstanding debts of his own. The man did appear more intimidating when he had his rough-shaven, lanky nephew staring at his associates and creditors with cold blue eyes from behind him. A jagged knife scar that ran from his left cheekbone to just below his ear only added to his ominous appearance.

Parson Watkins droned on, but the man’s words