The Duchess of Ophir Creek

by Judith B Glad

Overview

A CHINESE OBLIGATION...
Silas Dewitt saves two Chinese boys from a mob of drunken miners in an Idaho gold camp. But one of them turns out to be a stubborn, lovely woman who sees Silas as a means to freedom and independence-until she falls in love with him.
Fifteen years ago Silas left a treasure in this valley, empty then but now filled with gold-hungry men. Time and mining have made many changes, and nothing looks familiar. While he seeks the lost treasure, Soomey guards his back. But there is no one to guard hers. When she disappears, Silas learns that only he can save her...and the attempt could cost his life as well as hers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493713509
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	11/23/2013
Series:	Behind the Ranges , #3
Pages:	356
Product dimensions:	5.24(w) x 7.99(h) x 0.74(d)

About the Author

Among her varied careers are a couple Judith B. Glad actually chose, rather than falling into. With her children in school, she decided it was time for her to follow her own dreams, so she went back to school and studied botany. After completing her M.S., she became a botanical consultant, and spent the next twenty-odd years picking flowers for a living. Well, it was a little more complicated than that, but she picked enough flowers to keep her happy.
Consulting is not always steady work, so one slow winter Judith decided to spend a little time at her second career choice. Now she'd done a lot of writing as a consultant, but somehow describing proposed mine sites and interpreting statistical data wasn't the kind of writing she wanted to do. So she wrote a book. And another, and... Before she knew it, she was spending more time writing than picking flowers.
Judith lives in Portland, Oregon, where her garden blooms all year 'round and the long, rainy winters give her lots of time for writing. Visit her website (www.judithbglad.com) for samples of her stories.

Read an Excerpt

A ring of silence surrounded them as they traversed the main street of Bannock City. Boss's beard shone in the sunlight, so pale that it was closer to silver than gold. His stride was long and confident, his bearing as noble as any warlord's. He cordially greeted several people--the hostler, the grocer, and the big red-bearded Vester man. Soomey approved his actions. Only a fool showed his enemies an angry face.

At the whorehouse, he stopped and tied the horses to the porch post.

"Stay here. I'll not be long."

Soomey glared at him, but said nothing. When he had entered the front door, she put one foot in a dangling stirrup and pulled herself up to feel Tao Ni's face. He was warmer than she liked, although his sleepy smile was cheerful enough. She tipped Boss's canteen to his mouth and told him to swallow twice. The willow bark infusion she had prepared this morning was strong, and should keep him drowsy.

Boss was inside a long time, long enough that Soomey was certain he was taking his pleasure. She fumed, wondering what she could do to convince him that she was woman enough for him. Should she try again, when they were settled?

What if she angered him enough that he drove her away?

Now that Tao Ni was injured, she needed Boss more than ever. Perhaps she would be wise to allow him to patronize the whorehouse, until she could convince him to welcome her to his bed.

She supposed she must learn to cook the bad-tasting cornmeal for him. And whatever other barbarous foods he wished. If only he would not ask her for those vile red roots that Captain Slye had often eaten. Surely they would poison him.

At last Boss emerged, the whorehouse woman closebeside him. She smiled up into his face as if they were lovers, and patted his hand when he thanked her. Disgusted, Soomey turned away. She had no desire to watch Boss make such a fool of himself.

"Soomey?"

She inspected the new sign on the saloon across the street. It hung crooked against the front of the tent, the letters staggering as drunkenly across its face as miners did when emerging from the saloon.

Boss caught her shoulder in a gentle grip and turned her to face him. "Here," he said, holding out a pair of scuffed boots. "These ought to fit you. And the socks are pretty thick, so if they're a little big, it won't matter."

They looked awkward and stiff. "I do not need these," she said. "I have shoes."

"The hell you do. I looked at them last night. You've got newspaper stuffed inside and it's damn thin. A couple more miles and you'd be walking on your bare feet."

"I have walked on bare feet before," she told him, remembering that it had only been when she was taken to the city where Captain Slye had purchased her that she had been given her first pair of shoes. "It will not harm me."

"Soomey, damn it, put the boots on and don't argue with me."

She shook her head. The boots had come from the whorehouse. She would not wear them.

His eyes narrowed. "You want to keep workin' for me?" he said, in the soft voice she had learned to heed.

Soomey nodded.

"Then put on the boots."

She glared.

He glared back, holding out the boots.

Soomey flung herself onto the porch. "Give them to me," she said. "I will wear the damn things, but only because you force me to."

"Don't swear," he told her, his voice again gentle and mild. "It's not ladylike."

Soomey resisted the urge to kick him, even after she had the boots on her feet.

Editorial Reviews

The third book in Ms. Glad's Behind the Ranges series is filled with colorful characters. It is an exciting book, rich in history and detail. It is always a pleasure to watch a writer grow, and Ms. Glad just keeps getting better.

Romantic Times