Yellowstone Heart Song (Yellowstone Romance Series Book 1) (29 page)

Dear Reader

I hope you enjoyed Yellowstone Heart Song, the first installment in the Yellowstone Romance Series. I love Yellowstone National Park, and my family and I visit the park every summer for two weeks. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed learning about the history of the park and its surroundings.

I took the liberty to exercise literary license with some dates and events of the area, but my descriptions of the landscape are as true as I can make it, from memory, photographs, as well as having visited and seen the places I describe in the novel.

The Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-06 didn’t come through the park, having travelled a route further to the north. So, they missed out on seeing the great natural wonders of the area. They did name the Madison River in 1805 for James Madison, Secretary of State under President Thomas Jefferson. Its origin is in the Madison Valley as described in the book, where the Gibbon River and Firehole River join together, and it flows well outside the park boundaries.

 The first white man credited with seeing the area was John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Supposedly, he came through the area in 1806 after leaving the expedition. The area was termed “Colter’s Hell” after he described some hot springs. It is now believed that he never actually saw the Yellowstone geothermal features, but some hot springs to the south.

No white men lived in the area during the time of this story. When the era of the trappers and mountain men started in the early 1820’s, more and more white men travelled through the area, but none built permanent homes. The winters on the Yellowstone Plateau were too harsh for year-round living. The only permanent, year round human residents were the Sheepeater Shoshone.

~Peggy

My other titles:

Yellowstone Romance Series
:

Book 1   Yellowstone Heart Song

Book 2   Yellowstone Redemption

Book 3   Yellowstone Awakening

Book 4   Yellowstone Dawn

Book 5   Yellowstone Deception

A Yellowstone Christmas (novella)

Second Chances Time Travel Romance Series

Book 1   Come Home to Me

                         Book 2       Ain’t No Angel     (release 2013)

Teton Romance Trilogy

Book 1 Teton Sunrise

Book 2 Teton Splendor   (release spring/summer 2013)

Book 3 Teton Sunset   (release fall/winter 2013)

Find out more about me and my stories here:

http://peggylhenderson.blogspot.com

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I’m always happy to hear from my readers. Tell me what you liked, or didn’t like in the story. I can be reached via email here:
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Excerpt from Yellowstone Redemption

“I have to talk to your mother, Sarah.” Chase couldn’t believe what Sarah had revealed. She was clueless, but to him it was as obvious as day and night. No one could make up stories as accurate as what Sarah described. If her mother had time traveled, perhaps she knew how it was possible, and it would get him home. But why did she stay in this time? A sinking feeling came over him. What if it was a one-way ticket? Had she been stuck here, too? Without any other recourse, had she married Sarah’s father out of necessity. Chase frowned. As difficult as it was for him to be here, he couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for a modern woman, stranded in the past.  Marriage to a man from this time was probably her best option. Chase had to have some answers.

“Can you take me to this rendezvous place?”

Sarah’s eyes widened. “No, that’s not possible.”

“Why not?”

“Because I am not allowed to travel there on my own.”
(
Chase frowned. “I’m going with you. You wouldn’t be alone.”

“The way leads straight through Blackfoot country. Any white man, especially one traveling alone, will put his life in danger. The Blackfoot are a hostile tribe.”

He shook his head, his eyebrows drawing together. He didn’t get it. “But your parents are white,” he argued.

Sarah laughed. “My father trades with them as well as all other tribes in this region. My mother is a skilled healer. If anything happens to them, the wrath of many other nations will descend on the Blackfoot, and they know it. They would not harm my parents.”

Chase sat on the hard ground, the chill of the earth seeping up into his body. The fire crackled loudly. Sarah’s features danced in the shadows, illuminated by the flames. He held his head between his hands.

One month.

Somehow he had to convince Sarah to take him to her parents sooner. He didn’t want to be here that long. He needed some answers now. He glanced at her. She sat quietly, stroking her dog’s neck. Her fingers moved slowly through the mutt’s fur. Chase pictured her hand in his hair, stroking him . . . Irrational jealousy swept over him.
You’re insane, Russell. Jealous of a dog?

These feelings for her confused, and scared, the hell out of him. All the more reason he needed to get home.

“All right. I’ll go back to Madison with you,” he blurted out. “I hope your mother can give me some answers.”