Listen to the Mockingbird
by Penny Rudolph
Summary
Listen to the Mockingbird, slated for softcover release by Poisoned Pen Press, Sept. 2007 ISBN 1-59058-348-5 Trade
paperback $14.95
In New Mexico Territory, the Civil War is about to have a startling impact on a woman who calls herself Matty Summerhayes. A stranger dies in her barn, a lost gold mine is rumored, and someone wants to run her off her ranch. When her friend, a one-time slave, faces stoning for practicing voodoo, Matty stages a public exorcism.
When Matty is arrested for murder she must find the real killer. She unmasks a spy and murderer, but celebration is cut short when an officer comes calling, intending to claim his rights to not only her land but to Matty herself.
Excerpt
Maybe I was a mite too pleased with myself.
By that night in April 1861, I had spent three of my thirty-four years answering to the name Matilda Summerhayes,or as most folks call me, Matty. I was getting used to it.
The last thing I ever wanted was to run a horse ranch, but I reckoned I was finally getting a grasp on it. I was so full of myself I was pondering how soon I could put that ranch so far behind me itwould seem no more than a puff of forgotten dust like you find under a bed.
All day, the relentless spring wind had seemed intent on sweeping the ranch—if not the whole of New Mexico Territory—straight into the Rio Grande. But the blowing always went still at sundown, which had a way of gladdening the heart. So, I was sitting, chin in hand, at the plank table that served me well enough for a desk, gazing at the wall, imagining an orchestra. I could almost hear the trill of a piccolo.
A tremendously loud crack, like a felled tree before it hits the ground, sent me bolt upright. A bloodied face, mouth like a jagged hole in the dark beard, was staring blindly through the window. He tilted toward me and sagged slowly, his head grazing the pane, leaving a bloody smear. My heart near stopped dead inside me.
Leaping up, I snatched at the pistol on its hook on the wall only to see it clatter to the floor. Another crack thundered, then another; and something thudded to the ground so hard it rattled the house. I plucked up the gun and on feet barely touching the ground fled down the hall to the parlor. Only once had the hands got drunk and shot things up. That awful face had been strange to me, but hands came and went. If Nacho had hired him in the past day or two I might not meet him till payday. If he was still alive.
I swallowed hard and held my breath till my head cleared. Few things terrify me more than a drunk with a gun.
Warily flattening myself against the wall, I eased open the front door. The moon was still low, the stars like chips of ice in a black lake. No sound broke the quiet. Near the barn, a huge shape sprawled in the rabbit grass like some chunk of rock flung down from the mountain. This was nothing human. Had some fool got himself mauled by a bear before he could bring it down with a bullet?
Was the animal dead or only stunned?
For a long moment I fixed my eyes on the dark shape, but nary a sound or movement came from it. I grasped the pistol with both hands, thinking to shoot the beast in the eye if it rose. Feeling the earth hard and cold beneath my bare feet, I stepped toward it.
Reviews
“Occasionally a book just grabs the reader and won’t let go. This is one of those rare finds.”
“...An unforgettable treat, with characters you cry with.” Roundup magazine
“...Starts with a wallop and steadily builds to a gripping conclusion.” Timeless Tales
Author's Biography
Penny Rudolph has worked as a bartender, truck driver, chile picker, science writer and medical writer. She’s also taught English, creative writing, and journalism. She’s the author of two mystery/thrillers, Lifeblood and Thicker Than Blood, and an historical mystery/ thriller Listen to the Mockingbird.
PennyRudolph.com