Ratham Creek
The following excerpt is from my new release Ratham Creek. Arianne has spent her first winter in a cosy cabin tucked away in a mountian chain in western Montana. She is checking Tumble Creek which runs along her property. It is filled to overflowing with spring run off.
Was someone watching? Arianne spun from looking at the creek swollen with spring snow melt. She surveyed down the tree line—both ways. Nothing. No one. She shivered, yet didn’t feel chilly. “I’m going nuts,” she whispered and turned back to her problem. Tumble Creek raced downstream and spilled over its bank just before forking into Ratham Creek. The runoff filled the meadow.
Arianne stepped onto the bridge. She stomped and jiggled the boards. It seemed to be holding. She didn’t know why she worried. The meadow probably floods every April. The name of the month brought a smile to her lips. Her first winter in the cabin had been a challenge, but she’d met each problem the snow and ice brought. She now knew how to put chains on the pickup tires, how to use a blowtorch to thaw a frozen pipe and how to survive the long nights with a good book and deep sleep. Another fear had been driving to work on the dark snow-packed mountain road at five o’clock in the morning. Only thing to do was to do it, so she had. Today, life seemed renewed and she looked forward to summer.
Her forehead creased as the uneasy feeling returned. Shading her eyes, she retraced the tree line. Still, nothing. She couldn’t help hurrying back to the Chevy. She locked the doors and headed for town.
Montana Women Writers 
It’s a great book, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.