Wednesday 1 July 2015

WIPITUP WEDNESDAY

Welcome to my blog! Today I'm sharing a snippet out of my WIP - a Western. 




Despite having been told to stay in the wagon where she would be safe, Jessica decided she would help stop her first stampede:

The flash of lightning illuminated the ground all around her and she could see the steers quivering in fear. The crash of thunder that followed shook the ground and echoed on and on … then she realised that it wasn’t the thunder she could hear at all but the pounding hooves of the stampeding beeves.
            
Spurring her horse, she galloped after them, trying to get in front of them, but it was impossible. They weren’t running in an orderly line – they were fanning out into a front nearly a mile wide. Waving her arms and shouting, Jessica tried to get them to turn but she may as well have been invisible – the steers were running blindly, in a panic. There was no escape. Twisting in her saddle to look around she could see that she was surrounded by stampeding steers and there was no escape. Her heart was in her throat as she took in the hundreds of Texas Longhorns bearing down on her, getting closer and closer.
            
I’m going to die. Tonight, right here in the wilderness, I’m going to get trampled to death by runaway beeves. The realisation came as a shock, and she screamed. Reliving her childhood as her life flashed before her eyes, her mind conjured up the image of Johnny. That strong, handsome young man who had rescued her, who had been her strength during the darkest moments of her life … that image stayed with her.

            
Spurring her horse, she tried desperately to outrun the advancing steers but the front was just too wide and it was moving too quickly. There was nowhere for them to go – the steers were headed straight for them. 

                 Real women of the west were ranchers who confronted the elements while roping cows and mending fences. Sadly, very little was documented about women working to drive cattle up the trails of the Old West.                         old west cattle drive | Back to Cowboy/Western Decor Signs
I stole these photos off Pinterest where I have a board dedicated to this WIP

Please check out the other WIPsters below!

14 comments:

  1. Loved this Kelly. This was intense and had me gripped. Intriguing too, great teaser :)

    Hugs
    Roz

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  2. Oooh, scary. And I learned a new word - beeves. Loved this, thanks for sharing

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    1. Thanks Ashe! Google is quite handy - that's where I discovered 'beeves' LOL. Oh, and on "Rawhide" of course :)

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  3. This sounds really good! Intense!

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  4. Vivid snippet! Thanks for sharing :)

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  5. Riding in a storm - brave girl.

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  6. What an exciting excerpt. I can't wait to see how this turns out. But I'm betting someone is going to come to her rescue. ☺

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  7. Oh no!! I'm hoping that some big strong person comes to her rescue!! She should have listened. Great snippet!

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    1. Thanks Meredith! Her rescuer is handsome as well as big and strong :)

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