— whoosh —

The 12-foot tenkara fly-fishing bamboo-rod whipped through the air, releasing the thin line that touched down in the stream over twenty feet away.

The rising sun painted the sakura cherry blossoms in the rose color of dawn, reflecting a light pink sheen in the old man’s steel-gray...

BRISTOL COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS

FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1893

“Mr. Sigerson.”

“Ms. Borden.”

The tall, thin man shook the small woman’s hand.

In the women’s section of the Taunton Jail in Bristol County, Lizzie Borden’s jail cell, located at the south side of the jail, had one grated wind...

This is Part 4 (the final part) of the story.
If you haven't read Part 1 or Part 2 or Part 3 yet, please start there.  

Bice is dead.

And our party is now down to thirty men, three women.

Twenty fighters left last night, joined the other cowards.

There is no way, no way now, that we c...

This is Part 3 of the story.
If you haven't read Part 1 or Part 2  yet, please start there. 

“So, why do we stay here, then?” Aureliano is a broad shouldered man who resembles a monkey, a great ape, both in his features — the small narrow-set eyes, the small up-turned nose, the wide mout...

This is Part 2 of the story.
If you haven't read Part 1 yet, please start there.

We find Segundo some distance from the camp. Why did he leave the safety and security of our little huddle of tents, alone? Had someone, something, tempted and tricked him to leave the camp?

Primero is inc...

You wake to the singing.

The soft voices have infiltrated your dream, become part of it, carry you with them into the waking world. You, who normally sleep heavy and wake from a deep, black unremembered. This time, because of the singing, the dream is still with you, all of it clear, remember...

"So you're saying it's bigger?" Fabiana asked.

"C-closer," Pomp corrected in his high, soft, slightly-stuttering voice. "The knight is c-closer."

"Very well, closer.” Fabiana leaned in to study the knight in the painting. “But how can that be? Are you saying that someone has altered the painting? ...

When I finally caught up with Brandr, he was having a horn in the darkest, dirtiest mead-hall in the seediest part of Kaupang. Brandr's kind of place. The less light the better, with his scarred-up face and missing nose.

But the golden-haired, blue-eyed, rosy-cheeked woman next to him, she looked g...

     "Stay down. Face on the floor, hands on the back of your head. You're doing good. Be smart, and nobody dies today."

      Sal makes a fist, pumps it up and down rapidly, military tactical hand signal: Time to go. Hurry up.

     Rhett — carrying two large, black, ballistic-nylon duffle bags st...