An Excerpt From Rain Shadow

The echo of rapid gunfire brought Anton off the sofa with a start. He stumbled over the blanket wrapped around his knees and caught his balance. Trying to orient himself, he realized Nicholas wasn't on the pile of blankets near the fireplace. Shots rang out again - six in rapid succession.

Tugging on his denims, he ran out of the house and down the wooden porch stairs. "Nicholas!"

Six more shots volleyed across the landscape. Cocking his head to concentrate with his good ear, he honed in on the direction they'd come from and ran. "Nicholas!"

"Here, Pa!"

Anton raced toward his son's voice, cursing silently each time he stepped on a stone or a twig. The ground sloped toward a stream, then flattened into a broad shady area along the bank. There, with the early morning chill pinkening their cheeks, he found his son and the woman, both booted and hatted, their like expressions faintly apologetic.

Dressed in a pair of leather pants and a waist-length fringed jacket, Rain Shadow slid her revolver into the holster, which rode her hip comfortably. Strips of soft leather entwined one long braid. Her wide-brimmed hat was trimmed by a colorful beaded band.

"Sorry if we woke you," Rain Shadow said. "We were out in the woods for so long I figured everyone was up by now."

He didn't reply.

"Pa, look what Rain Shadow can do! She shoots these acorns right off the log!" Nikolaus ran and placed a row of acorns along a fallen tree from which the bark had long ago decayed, leaving a smooth silverish log. Several fresh gouges lined the top. He ran back and stood a few feet from her. "Show him!"

"I think that's enough for this morning." She turned as if to move away.

"No. Go ahead. I'd like to see."

She gazed at Anton uneasily, noted the golden stubble he'd grown overnight. His fair hair was mussed, his shirt-tails hung outside his dungarees, and his long, bare toes curled into the dewy morning grass. His mood did not appear pleasant.

"All right," she said, deciding. Quick as lightning, she turned, drew and fired six shots.

Anton's stunned gaze shot from the gun she automatically reloaded to the bare log. A few more nicks graced the top.

"Good Lord," he said to no one in particular.

Nikolaus giggled with delight. "Watch this, Pa."

The boy knelt and picked up a walnut from a small pile at his feet. Swinging his arm in a wide arc, he flung the nut into the air.

Rain Shadow raised the revolver in a flurry of swinging fringe, and the nut exploded into fragments.

The shot echoed in the crisp morning air.

Anton's clear blue eyes lowered from the cloudless sky and settled on her face. She was accustomed to various reactions from men, the most common the discomfort that a woman shot better than they. Deliberately, he subdued an expression of awe.

"Look what else!" Nikolaus ran to a canvas bag under one of the trees and tugged the fabric open. "Turkeys, Pa. Two of ‘em!"

She could almost see the color of Anton's eyes darken to an intense angry blue. His posture rigid, he knelt and peered into the bag beside his elated son. "Turkeys, huh? Well, what do ya know?"

"I'm gonna help clean ‘em and cook ‘em, too. You're gonna eat with us, aren't ya?"

Rain Shadow watched him wrestle with his feelings and disguise his anger for his son's benefit. "Am I invited?"

Nikolaus raised an inquiring face to her.

"Certainly. Everyone is invited."

Anton stood. "You shot the grouse yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Where did you learn to do this?"

"Practice. I've been around sharpshooters since I was your son's age."

"She knows Annie Oakley, Pa."

"That a fact?"

She tied her holster thong, tugged the drawstring bag closed and handed it to Nikolaus. "I'd better get back."

Anton fell in step behind her, picking his way across the ground. Resentment flared, glowing hot as he watched his son trot adoringly alongside her, toting the lumpy bag. His jealousy was irrational, he knew, but he'd intended to take Nikolaus turkey hunting before she ever came along. Guiltily, he realized it had been weeks since he'd made the promise. If only he had more time….

Hell, there was never enough time. The crops wee barely in, and preparations needed to be made for winter. When he had a wife, she could take over some of the tasks, and he'd have more time for his son.

He should have been the one to take Nikolaus hunting, rather than that—-inadvertently, he watched the snug seat of her leather pants as she moved silently ahead of him—-rather than that gun-toting, ungrateful…

He'd been outdone by a woman. No, a mere snip of a girl!

Rain Shadow possessed none of the qualities necessary to snag a husband. She compared unfavorably in all areas to his sisters-in-law—-well, almost all areas, he conceded, and wrenched his gaze from her rounded backside. Lydia and Annette dressed demurely, moved with ease and comfort in a kitchen, and wouldn't know the first thing about shooting a turkey.

When he found a mother for Nikolaus, she for sure, he swore, wouldn't be digging his father position out from under him. She would know how to behave like a woman!

From the top of the bank, Nikolaus squealed with delight and hopped up and down. "Pa! Pa! Hurry!"

Realizing he'd lagged behind, Anton limped toward them, wondering what his son found so thrilling.

"Look, Pa! It's him, ain't it, Rain Shadow? It's Buffalo Bill, Pa! Look!" Nikolaus dropped the game and raced toward the yard.

Eight or ten riders approached the house on prancing horses, Ahead of the party, astride a black horse with white socks and blaze, in thigh-high black boots and wide-brimmed sombrero, was, indeed, the famed Buffalo Bill Cody.

Rain Shadow
Nominated by Romance Writers of America
for a RITA Award for Best First Book!

"This is a story and style that reminds me very much of LaVyrle Spencer's earliest books."
--Linda Howard, best-selling award-winning author

"With a few brush strokes, this author captures place, character, moment. Ms. St.John's skill is obvious on page one. What a marvelous style!"
--Loretta Chase, author of The Lion's Daughter

"Rain Shadow is a wonderful unique western romance that widens the horizons of the genre. Cheryl St.John's special voice will endear he to readers."
**** Romantic Times Magazine

"Rain Shadow is a beautifully moving novel by an author who knows how to create sympathetic characters. Especially gratifying to readers will be the happiness that comes into Anton's life after all the pain he has endured. Cheryl St.John demonstrates the promise of a great writer whose talent will lead her to the top of her profession."
****1/2 Affaire de Coeur

"Cheryl St.John has created a romance with the Wild West as the backdrop. The beautiful Rain Shadow, a Wild West performer, and Anton Neubauer, a Pennsylvania farmer, meet by chance when the Wild west has a train wreck. An intriguing romance develops, which is intertwined with William F. Cody, Annie Oakley, Indians, gauchos, and other performers from the show. The plot involves personalities and scenes from the Wild West which are portrayed accurately and generate the excitement the show always produced. Rain Shadow is a thrilling and passionate novel."
--Mary Nason, Secretary/Tour Guide, Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park

"Ms. St.John writes a story that is gentle yet strong as these caring characters find joy in each other, laughter in their children and fathers, and everything they ever wanted in each others' arms. All questions are answered and the last is the most surprising, for nobody is going to figure out this ending! This intricately woven plot keeps the reader turning pages with a smile--and the tension building with the different angles of the story that converge. This is a fine, fine story!."
Gold ***** Heartland Critiques

"Rain Shadow is a sensitive love story. Its hero is unusual in that he is unaware that he is handsome, and we have a heroine who is totally unprepared to enter a world of tablecloths and napkins. I enjoyed the author's blending of the two cultures, especially the characters of Two Feathers and Anton's father. This is a fast-paced entertaining story."
--Rendezvous

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