Blessings From The Four Winds

"e;Blessings from the Four Winds"e; is a combination of western, historical, and romance fiction story-telling inspired by the life of a real person, the author's great-grandfather. In the novel, as a young man, he works as a cowboy on cattle drives driving herds from Waco, Texas to Dodge City, Kansas. It is during one of these cattle drives that he happens upon a beautiful Indian girl bathing in the Red River in Indian Territory. Set in 1885, the storyline follows their forbidden courtship. In the beginning she rejects all of his amorous attempts to court her, until he devises a plan capable if winning her over completely, or making her totally rebuke him. The storyline includes small vignettes about other colorful characters whose lives are weaved into a tapestry of a time in America's history when prosperity dwelt adjacent to widespread destitution and desperation. There is a long train ride with White passengers unsettled by the presence of Indian passengers, visits to a Choctaw Indian village, recounting of Negro soldiers in a Civil War battle, and three sermons by a charismatic Negro Christian pastor. By the end of the story everyone to different degrees has been touched by the blessings of the four winds according to long-held beliefs and due to uplifting remarks from the story's characters about the brotherhood of races in America and the promise of the Constitution's principles. List of ChaptersChapter I The Start of the Cattle DriveChapter II Fork in the RoadChapter III Crossing Red RiverChapter IV The TakingChapter V Finding a WayChapter VI BondingChapter VII The New AssistantChapter VIII Life for a LifeChapter IX Redemption and RevelationsChapter X InvitationsChapter XI Good NewsChapter XII All A-boardChapter XIII AccommodationsChapter XIV The Ceremony