This is the third volume of 'Jacob Series.'In the second volume, Riding for the Brand, Charles (Cookie) was known for his refusal to bathe. The women at the ranch dump him in the water trough and wash him thoroughly. A 'gentleman's class' is being taught at the Windslow ranch. Cookie excels and not only becomes a gentleman, but a culinary chef and is well known throughout the territory. There is a transformation, and Cookie is now known as Charles. ***** Unseen Enemies "Are you ready to leave?" asked Jacob, "Yes sir, I'm ready and I am looking forward to finding me a good wife." "Well," replied Zac, "Make sure you get a good one like Elizabeth and not one like Mary." Jacob cut in, "No, you want a young woman, like Mary, and not an old one like Elizabeth." Charles laughed and was grateful for the light banter between these two good men. He hoped he could find friends as true as they were to each other. ***** Next to the road, Charles saw a man who had been stripped of everything but his under clothing. He had been beaten and had been struggling to crawl into the underbrush. Charles looked around to see if they were alone, then took his canteen, dismounted and knelt next to the man. He was just a young man and his hair was matted with dried blood. Both of his eyes were swollen from his beating, and he had cuts on his face and head. His eyes opened a slit and he weakly said, "Please help me." ***** Charles asked, "Then can you explain the Lazy S brand on your horse's hip. That's his father's ranch brand. That's a hanging offense where I come from." The man on the left looked at the other two and Charles knew exactly what they were going to do. They went for their guns and Charles scatter gun barked and caught the first two men dead center, and the third man dropped to the ground, firing his revolver ***** As Buck crossed the stream he stepped into some quicksand, and his front feet went down to his chest. Jacob leaped off and urged Buck to try and get out. Buck reared backwards and finally pulled his front feet out. As Jacob was checking Buck's legs, he heard a thrashing sound coming through the heavy underbrush. As he reached for his gun, out charged a big longhorn bull. Jacob fired point blank and the bull went down, and then got up and charged again. Jacob fired again, and his bullet hit the bull in the center of its forehead, and it fell, just three feet in front of him. ***** Before she could do anything, her large Indian captor grabbed her wrists and started dragging her to his tepee. This time Mary fought like a female cougar defending her cubs... except she was the cub. She kicked and tried to bite her captive, but all he did was laugh. Mary's heart raced and suddenly she got a sickening feeling of what was about to happen. The bile raced up her throat and she gagged. She pleaded in her mind, "God, I know You heard my prayers, and I felt peace that all would be well. Why are You letting him do this to me?"
About the Author: Terrance M. Cooper, (doc) was raised on a farm in Coopersville, Michigan and was driving a team of horses by the time he was nine years old. He enjoyed riding his own horse, Cherokee everywhere in the countryside, until he joined the Marine Corps in 1959. After he got out of the Marine Corps he spent two and one half years in Samoa, as a missionary for his church. He returned to the States and immediately entered college. When he finished college, he entered Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa in 1966, and graduated in 1970. In 1970 he went on a blind date and met his wife, Julie Ann. He saw her twice and on the third date, he proposed to her, and she accepted. They were married three months later. They have been married forty-seven years, and have six children and thirty grand children and three great-grand children. ***** In the early 1980's Doc visited the Grand Tetons Mountain range and rode his horse over eighty miles in the wilderness. He saw what the Sioux Indians saw and camped in areas where they could have camped, and traveled across the valleys where they would have ridden. He envisioned himself back in those days, and was inspired to write his "Jacob Series' which consisted of four volumes of excitement, adventure, and a love story of a young man who falls in love with a Sioux Indian maiden. ***** In 1985 he moved his family to Hornbrook, California to an 800 acre ranch, where they raised kids, quarter horses, and cows. He opened a Chiropractic office in Yreka, and became fascinated by the early history of Siskiyou County. He enjoyed taking his wife and children to the Marble Mountain Wilderness where they packed in by horseback and camped and fished. ***** Doc then moved his family to Roosevelt, Utah, in the Uintah Basin where he continued practicing Chiropractic, and bought a smaller ranch, and continued raising kids, horses and cows. Their family consisted of six children, two boys and four girls. As a family they would pack into the Uintah Mountain to camp and fish. They participated on many cattle round-ups with neighbors in the area. Their daughters were the most avid riders. Their ranch stock consisted of eighteen pair of mother cows, calves and ten horses. As a family they would have a yearly round-up, where they would brand, tag the ears, and inoculate the stock. The family did everything else that went with ranch life. And, yes, they even ate Rocky Mountain Oysters.