Arresting Her Heart: Small Town Cop,

Enemies-to-love, Christian Suspenseful

Romance (First Responders of Faith
Valley Book 1) Jenna Brandt
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/arresting-her-heart-small-town-cop-enemies-to-love-c
hristian-suspenseful-romance-first-responders-of-faith-valley-book-1-jenna-brandt/
Arresting Her Heart
First Responders of Faith Valley Book 1
Jenna Brandt
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events and incidents are either
products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Locale and public names are sometimes
used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, actual events, or
actual locations is purely coincidental. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written
permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and
certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email jenna@
jennabrandt.com.

Text copyright © Jenna Brandt 2022.

Cover photo copyright depositphotos.com

 Praise for Jenna Brandt

I am always excited when I see a new book by Jenna Brandt.

— Lori Dykes, Amazon Customer

Jenna Brandt is, in my estimation, the most gifted author of Christian fiction in this generation!
— Paula Rose Michelson, Fellow Author

Ms. Brandt writes from the heart and you can feel it in every page turned.
— Sandra Sewell White, Longtime Reader

For more information about Jenna Brandt visit her on any of her websites.

Signup for Jenna Brandt’s Newsletter

Visit her on Social Media:

www.JennaBrandt.com
www.facebook.com/JennaBrandtAuthor
Jenna Brandt’s Reader Group
hwww.twitter.com/JennaDBrandt
http://www.instagram.com/Jennnathewriter
 Contents

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18

Sneak Peek of The Cowgirl Rescue

Sneak Peek of The Army Ranger Rescue~First Responders of Faith Valley Prequel
A Note from the Author
Also by Jenna Brandt
Join My Mailing List and Reader’s Groups
Acknowledgments
About the Author
 Dedicated to my husband, Badge #5654.
Thanks for being the inspiration behind my stories.
 Chapter One

When Rookie Officer Noah West arrived at the retirement apartments adjacent to the church in the
center of his small hometown in Texas, he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Bullets and
fists flying were expected with his job. Having his ear talked off by the Widow Clancy wasn’t what
he signed up for when he followed after his brothers’ and sister’s footsteps and joined the Faith
Valley police department.
“This is the first time I’ve gotten the youngest West officer. Of course, I’ve seen you at church and
around town, but I had no idea how handsome you were up close." The older woman batted her dark
blue eyes at him and tilted her head to the side, as if debating what to do about it. A smile slowly
spread across her face and she nodded her head in determination. “I think I have a granddaughter that
is just about your age. If you come inside, I could show you her picture. She’s won a couple of
pageants, for scholarships of course.”
Noah didn’t want anything to do with Mrs. Clancy’s beauty queen granddaughter. Not only
because he’d learned from past experience how high-maintenance pageant girlfriends could be, but
because it would be completely unprofessional to let the older woman play matchmaker for him while
he was on the job. He clicked on the button for his flashlight and pointed it around the plastic bin
behind the apartment building, scanning for any evidence that someone had been in the alleyway.
“Mrs. Clancy, are you sure you saw someone by your trash can? Could it have been a raccoon?” he
asked, trying to refocus her back to the reason she gave the dispatcher when she called the police
department.
“Yes, Officer West, I’m quite certain I saw a man out here. I was afraid he might be trying to look
through the window and see me in my undergarments,” she accused with indignation. “I might be a
seasoned widow, but I’m still a dish.”
Noah eyed the older woman, who had a head full of curly, white hair with a tinge of purple in it.
He remembered his own grandma had hair just like that once and complained that her hairdresser
used too much toner and ruined her color. She never went back, but he suspected from Mrs. Clancy’s
humble home and clothes, her color choice stemmed from a financial limitation brought on by
widowhood. Even with her meager resources, however, she was dolled up with a pound of makeup
and a layer of what he assumed was her best jewelry.
She wrapped her frail arms around his muscular bicep and squeezed. “At least you’re here to
protect me, Officer West. You must have scared off whoever was back here prowling. Why don’t you
come inside so I can give you some hot tea and homemade cookies to thank you?”
 “That’s very kind of you, Mrs. Clancy, but I need to be getting back to work,” Noah objected as he
gently tried to pull away.
“Nonsense. Faith Valley closes up at nine p.m. on the dot, and there usually isn’t a peep out of
anyone until the next day. You have plenty of time to come in and try my oatmeal raisin cookies.
They’re the best in the county,” the older woman bragged with a smile.
Oh how he wished a call would come in over his radio, but when one didn’t, he found himself
being dragged into her apartment. She pushed him into a seat at a small wooden table where she
already had a plate of cookies waiting. “They just came out of the oven right before you got here.”
She picked one up, and before he could protest, she was shoving it into his mouth. Noah wanted to
ask if she was so afraid of the prowler outside, how did she manage to bake a perfectly delicious
cookie without so much as burning them one bit? Even though he knew he shouldn’t, he found himself
reaching for a second cookie.
“I see you like them,” she stated with approval. “Let me get you that tea. I have a wonderful
cinnamon tea that goes perfectly.” Mrs. Clancy shuffled into the kitchen where she had a kettle by the
stove. She picked it up and poured the steaming amber-colored liquid into a teacup that was waiting
on the side counter. She set to work putting in cream and sugar.
The longer Noah watched the widow work, the more he got the sneaking suspicion that she had
planned all of this. He glanced from the cookies to the tea, to Mrs. Clancy several times before
accepting the truth; he’d been hoodwinked.
Jumping up from his seat, he brushed his hands off over the table and pushed back his shoulders,
ready to confront the widow about her entrapment. When she turned around with the cup in her
shaking hand and a lonely look in her eyes, the words he planned to say got stuck in his throat.
“You want to leave, don’t you?” she whispered in the most vulnerable voice. “I heard you stand
up and figured you don’t want to bother with some old woman. I get it, I was young once, too.” She
put the cup down and collapsed in her chair. “You must think me some kind of desperate person to
behave like this. It’s just when my Sammy passed away, I got so lonely. My two children moved to
different places after college, and I don’t have any other family in town.”
Noah’s heart ached with sympathy for the old woman, and he found himself sitting back in his
vacant chair. “I guess I can have one cup of tea.”
“Good,” she said with a smile. She pushed the saucer and cup across the table to him. “And then
we can play a couple of hands of Rummy before you take off.”
An hour later, Noah finally found himself back in his police car. Not only was he full from half a
dozen cookies, a cheese and meat plate, and three cups of tea, but his hazel eyes were plumb
exhausted from staring at the cards and his pride wounded from steadily losing the entire time. He
couldn’t prove it, but Mrs. Clancy had to be a secret card shark at one point in her life.
“Dispatch, this is P.O. 6. Show me Code 10-8,” he said over the radio.
“Copy that, P.O. 6, we have you in service and available for assignment,” Noah’s middle brother,
Marshal’s voice responded over the radio. “How did the call go? What did you think of Widow
Clancy?”
From his audibly amused tone, Noah realized that his brother was fully aware of what happened
to him on the call. It was just another hazing in a long line of scenarios that the rest of the officers had
been punishing him with ever since he finished the state police academy and joined the department
eight months back. His brothers took it upon themselves to make his transition as miserable as
possible. From shaving cream in his locker to secretly switching out his name tag to “Sweetheart,”
they’d teased him relentlessly. Add to this, his field training officer put him through the wringer for
the first six months. It had been the stuff of nightmares. Even now, after two months on his own, it
didn’t seem like it was going to let up.
Refusing to give his brother the satisfaction of knowing that the assignment got to him, Noah tried
to change the subject. “Do you have a call for me or not?”
“Nope, there’s nothing pending, so resume standard patrol,” Marshal ordered.
“Hold on, we’re not letting him off that easy,” his oldest brother, Clayton’s voice boomed over the
radio. Noah’s heart dropped into his stomach, knowing that this was only going to get worse now that
both of them were there. “I didn’t come in on my night off just to have him skip over his first
encounter with the Widow Clancy.”
“First encounter? What does that mean?” Noah accused with trepidation.
“Oh, she calls in on a regular basis,” Marshal explained with a chuckle. “We all take turns having
to handle her, but since you’re the new guy, we figured it was only right you get this one.”
“And all future ones,” Clayton added, joining in on the laughter.
Once their merriment finally died down, Marshal revealed one more nugget of torture. “By the
way, she has the cards marked. That’s why you lost, Noah. I hate to break it to you little brother, but
you need to be more observant if you’re going to make it as a cop.”
“Thanks for the encouragement, guys, but I need to get back to my patrol,” Noah stated in a
clipped tone, biting back what he really wanted to say. As the newest rookie in the department, he
didn’t have the luxury of speaking his mind. It didn’t matter that the cops ridiculing him were his
brothers. There was a clear pecking order and he was firmly at the bottom of it.
He turned on his playlist from his cell phone, and the hard rock came blasting out of his speakers.
Once he passed his field training and was released to work on his own, he found that the loud noise
kept him awake and alert. The long, dark nights could wear on even the most seasoned officers
without another soul around.
“Man, what I wouldn’t give to have a K9 partner to talk to right now,” he grumbled to himself as
he shifted in his seat. Out of nowhere, the image of his estranged half-brother, Sean West, came
popping into his mind. Just a month ago, he’d overheard his parents arguing about his older half-
brother from his dad’s first marriage. Noah didn’t know much about the situation, since no one in the
family talked about it. From what little he could gather, Sean’s mom took off with him when he was
little and moved to the neighboring town of Woody. Their dad married Noah’s mother and they started
their own family, and there had been no contact between them. This presented a problem for Noah.
Ever since he heard them talk about Sean, he couldn’t help but wonder about the elite K9 handler that
worked for Disaster City Search and Rescue. How much did they have in common? Did they look
alike? Was he serious like their father, or a joke-cracker like his other brothers? He’d been tempted to
try to contact Sean since he only lived a half-hour away, but with the depth of the estrangement, Sean
might as well have lived on the moon. Contact was out of the question.
Noah tried to suppress a yawn, knowing it would only make him more tired if he gave into the
reaction. He rolled down his front windows, hoping the cold air would snap him back to attention.
His favorite Led Zeppelin song came on, and he belted out the lyrics from memory. There was a
sudden onslaught of rain, forcing him to roll his windows back up to keep it from coming inside the
vehicle. Within minutes, it was raining cats and dogs outside. He flicked on his windshield wipers
and tried to ignore the irritating sound of the rubber scrapping against the glass in a steady rhythm.
Just over the hill, he saw headlights coming from the other direction. His focus was pulled toward
the vehicle, wondering what someone was doing out so late on this rural stretch of road. Was it
teenagers coming back from a secret field party? Noah had gone to enough of them in his youth to
know that heavy drinking and drugs were common at them. Did that mean the driver might be under
the influence?
As the white car zipped past him, he saw the flash of blonde hair and a feminine face. He didn’t
recognize the young woman, which made him even more certain that it was one of the students from
Faith Valley High School. He flipped his police car around and took off after the other vehicle. It only
took a few seconds to catch up to the blonde. By the time he did, his suspicions were confirmed when
she suddenly swerved out of control. She must have overcorrected because her car careened off the
road and crashed straight into a nearby tree.
Silently, he sent up a prayer asking for God to protect the occupant of the car. Teenagers rarely
thought about consequences, and he hoped that the young girl wasn’t going to pay for the decision to
drink and drive with her life. He pulled up and parked behind the crashed Honda Accord, then
jumped out of his own vehicle. He rushed over to the driver’s side and peered through the window to
get a better look at the occupant. On closer inspection, he realized that the blonde female was older
than he first assessed. She looked to be in her mid-twenties rather than a teenager.
“Ma’am, are you all right?” he asked as he reached for the handle of the car door. She looked
shocked as she turned her head to face him, her big, blue eyes filled with unshed tears. “Are you
injured?” he inquired further when she didn’t respond to his first question.
As soon as he pulled the door open and bent down to check on her, he was greeted by the
overpowering stench of alcohol. The entire car was filled with the pungent scent, confirming his
initial assessment that she was indeed guilty of drunk driving. Despite how pretty she was and the fact
he didn’t want to make her cry, he had to do his job and arrest her. He took a deep breath and then
blurted out before he lost his nerve, “Ma’am I’m going to need you to step out of your car.”
 Chapter Two

Audree Hall wasn’t sure what was going on. One moment she was driving her car down the road, and
the next, she was crashed into a tree with a police officer barking orders at her. She could have sworn
she saw headlights following her, and her fear kicked in, causing her to panic and speed up. What she
hadn’t accounted for was the rain and how slippery it made the old road. By the time she was
skidding on the road, it was already too late to keep herself from crashing.
She felt a cold, firm hand on her arm. Glancing up, she noticed for the first time how young the
cop was. He had thick, sandy, brown hair and gorgeous hazel eyes. If he smiled, he might actually be
considered handsome.
“What are you doing? Why are you touching me?” She jerked away and shook her head. The
gesture only made her head throb harder, a residual side effect from the air bag that had deployed into
her face. “I need to get home. I have papers to grade.”
“Papers?” he asked with confusion. “What are you talking about? You’ve been out drinking and
decided to get behind the wheel rather than call for a sober ride.”
“I don’t know how this happened. Alcohol is all over my car.” Audree gestured around her with
frustration. “Though with the front end crunched by the tree, it doesn’t much matter.”
“Ma’am, you’re better off remaining quiet. Anything you say, can and will be used against you in a
court of law.”
“None of this is my fault,” she quickly defended, trying to explain what happened. From the look
of disbelief plastered across the officer’s face, it was clear she wasn’t doing a good job of it. “One of
my theater students called me from a party and wanted me to come pick her up. By the time I got there,
however, she’d already left. The rest of the students were still drinking, though, and I had to stop it.”
“By taking the alcohol for yourself,” he accused in a disapproving tone. “Not the brightest idea
since this is a dry county.”
“Wait, what?” she asked in confusion. “You think I took it to drink it? I took it to get rid of it.”
“Nice try, ma’am, but I come from a cop family. I’ve heard every excuse in the book to get out of
being arrested for violating the law.”
“It’s not an excuse, Officer West,” Audree snapped out in irritation as she looked at his name tag.
She wanted to know who to complain about when she filed a report about his behavior. West? Why
did that name sound so familiar? Didn’t she have a couple of students with that last name? Hadn’t she
heard some of the students gossip about the West family and how they ran this town? Great, that meant
any report she filed would be ignored. Was this what she got herself into by moving to a small town in
the middle of nowhere?
“Call ‘em like I see ‘em,” the officer countered with a scowl as he placed his hands on his hips
and glared at her.
“I’m telling you the truth,” she insisted, hating that she heard the own plea in her voice. “I was
trying to do the right thing.”
“Even so, it doesn’t change the fact that you smell like a brewery in a dry county.” He reached
down a second time and grabbed her by the arm, roughly yanking her out of her vehicle. “You’re
under arrest for driving while under the influence, as well as possession of an illegal substance. You
have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do
you understand the rights I have just read to you?”
She nodded her head, dazed by the sheer lunacy that she was being arrested for trying to keep her
students out of trouble. When she took the job as the new theater and English teacher at Faith Valley
High School to escape her past in Houston, she never imagined it would end with her behind bars.
The officer pulled both of her arms behind her back and placed her into handcuffs, grabbed her
purse out of her vehicle, and then marched her over to his police car. He roughly deposited her into
the back of his vehicle before announcing over the radio that he was bringing in a drunk driver. He
opened her purse and pulled out her driver’s license. He relayed her identifying information including
her weight, adding even more humiliation to an already embarrassing situation.
It was all she could do to not yell from the backseat that he had it all wrong. Fighting with the
officer, however, would only make things worse. She needed to think about what she was going to do
once he got her back to the police station. She was new in town, so she didn’t have any contacts, let
alone information for a good lawyer. Didn’t they always say on those cop shows that obtaining a good
lawyer was paramount to a good defense? What about bail? Her funds were dangerously low after all
of her moving expenses. Would she have enough to pay for it, or would she have to stay overnight in
jail? The thought of that was almost her undoing. She’d always prided herself on being a good person
and doing the right thing, yet here she was being carted off to jail in the back of a police car. Silently,
she sent up a prayer, asking God to intervene and help her.
Fifteen minutes later, they arrived outside a large brick building in the center of town with the
words, “Faith Valley Police Department,” spelled across the top in large silver letters. To her relief,
the officer didn’t park out front where anyone passing by could see them, but entered through a
security gate at the back of the building. He pulled into a spot in the parking lot and turned off the
engine before opening her door and pulling her, along with her purse, out of the vehicle.
As Officer West escorted her through the back entrance, several heads turned toward them with
puzzled looks on their faces. Audree could feel her cheeks flame red with mortification as he paraded
her down the hall and into the center of the room. He unceremoniously dumped her onto a bench as he
turned to face the older woman behind a long counter. Audree instantly recognized the woman with
graying black hair and dark brown eyes as Ginger Durham, one of the most active members of Faith
Valley Church. She also happened to be good friends with Birdie Jackson, the biggest gossip in town.
She was sure by morning, everyone in town would know about her arrest. Officer West slid Audree’s
purse across to Ginger, saying, “All of her information is in there, along with her personal belongings.
Her wrecked car is out on Route 53 near mile marker 8. It’s going to need a tow truck.”
“I’ll take care of the booking information and the tow, Officer West.” Ginger said with a nod.
After a couple of moments hesitation, she looked past him at Audree and added with a sympathetic
smile, “Do you need anything, sweetie? Like a glass of water or a snack while you wait?”
 “She isn’t here as a guest, Ginger,” Noah chastised with a frown. “She’s under arrest for driving
while drunk.”
“I wasn’t drunk,” Audree objected from her spot on the bench.
“Then why did you swerve off the road and crash your car?” he challenged with audible
disbelief.
“Because I was trying to avoid hitting an armadillo,” she cried out in frustration, though that
wasn’t the real reason. She refrained from telling him that she had been afraid she was being
followed. That would only make her sound plumb crazy, and she didn’t need to add fuel to the fire.
“With the heavy rain, I didn’t see it crossing the road until it was too late. I swerved and lost control
of my car.”
“Your story just keeps getting more and more unbelievable,” Officer West stated with a roll of his
eyes. “Look, if you have a drinking problem, there are plenty of great rehab programs.”
“What are you talking about? I keep telling you that I didn’t drink any of that alcohol. I don’t even
like the taste of it,” she shouted at him, finally having enough of the ignorant officer’s assumptions.
Several heads poked out of office doors and above cubicle walls to see what was going on. “Why
won’t you listen to me?” she sobbed out, hating that he’d managed to make her cry. She could feel the
hot tears stream down her cheeks as she clenched her hands into fists behind her back.
“You can tell it to the judge,” Officer West yelled in return, causing several more people to stand
up from their cubicles to watch the fight. “Maybe he’ll fall for your sob story.”
“This is your drunk driver?” a slightly older man, one that surprisingly looked a lot like Officer
West, asked as he came between them. He glanced between the younger officer and Audree a couple
of times before he shook his head and sighed. “Tell me, little brother, that you didn’t arrest the new
high school teacher.”
Officer West looked at her for a long moment before furrowing his brows together. It was as if he
were acknowledging her as a person for the first time since he approached her on the side of the road.
“Is that who she is? She mentioned something about grading papers and picking up students. I was
more focused on the alcohol stench pouring out of her car than what she did for a living.”
“You can’t be serious? I came in here to bust Noah’s chops about spending over two hours at
Widow Clancy’s place this evening,” another officer, who also looked similar to the West brothers
but with slightly darker hair and a couple of more wrinkles, said with glee. He joined the growing
group around her. “I didn’t know our little brother was going to drop a gold mine of ridicule into my
lap by arresting the new high school teacher.”
“Wrongfully arrested,” Audree added, hoping someone would finally hear her out and listen to
what actually happened. “I found some students drinking out at a field party, so I took the liquor from
them so I could get rid of it. When I crashed my car, the bottles broke and the alcohol coated
everything, including me.”
“Did you do a field sobriety test on her?” the first brother asked with a raised eyebrow.
Noah shook his head. “She was in a car crash, so I knew it would invalidate it.”
“Then you at least gave her a breathalyzer test, right?” the second brother asked, but in a way that
made it clear there was only one correct answer.
When Noah shook his head again, the second brother cursed under his breath. “We need to test her
right now to make sure the arrest is valid.” He disappeared down the hall and around the corner.
“Noah, I know you’re a rookie, but forgetting to conduct a breathalyzer test at the scene is a huge
mistake,” the other brother chastised with a frown. “You better hope that your assumption about the
teacher turns out to be right.”
 “It’s not,” she chirped from her seat. “He’s going to have a lot of explaining to do in just a few
minutes.”
The other brother returned and placed a piece of plastic tube, that looked a lot like a straw, into
her mouth. He told her to blow hard into it. After a few seconds, it beeped, and he pulled the device
away. “Negative. She doesn’t have any alcohol in her system,” the older brother announced to the
group.
“What? That can’t be the case, Clayton,” Noah shouted in disbelief. He grabbed the breathalyzer
from his brother and stared down at the screen.
“Man oh man, Noah, I’m glad I’m not in your shoes. Dad is going to have your hide, if not your
badge, over this,” the other brother said with a shake of his head as he folded his arms across his
thick chest. “I don’t think I’ve heard of a rookie making a bigger mistake in all my years on the
department.”
“I sure hope we get to be in the room when Dad lets him have it,” Clayton said with a wicked
grin. “It’s about time Dad’s favorite got treated like the rest of us, don’t you think, Marshal?”
The other brother shrugged. “I’m actually starting to feel bad for him, thinking about how Dad laid
into me when I wrecked my police car my first year on the job. This is way worse than that. It’s not
his fault that he doesn’t have the good sense that God gave a goose.”
“Hello, what about me?” Audree questioned from her spot on the bench, frustrated that they
seemed to care more about their family drama than they did clearing up the debacle their brother
created. “Does anyone feel bad for the woman who was wrongfully arrested and paraded through the
police station like a common criminal?” She gestured with her head behind her back and grumbled
with anger. “Why am I still in handcuffs?”
“Good point,” Marshal said as he dropped his hands to his side and pulled out a key from his duty
belt. He bent over and made quick work of removing the metal shackles.
She rubbed her wrists and flinched from the pain, knowing that she was going to have bruises
from how tight they had gotten around her delicate, peach-tinted skin. “Am I free to go?”
All three men nodded as Ginger held out her purse to her. “You can use our phone to make a call
if you need someone to pick you up.”
Audree shook her head, not wanting to stay in the police station one more minute than she had to.
She grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder. “I have a cell phone in my purse and will call a
friend for a ride.”
“I’m sorry about the mix-up,” Noah finally whispered as he looked at her for the first time since
he found out she’d been telling the truth.
She could see from the embarrassed look in his eyes he regretted what he did, however, she didn’t
care. He deserved to feel bad after how he treated her. “May I make one suggestion, Officer Noah
West. You should really consider going into a different line of work considering how terrible you are
at your job.” Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and marched out of the police
station. Officer West was left with a shocked look on his face as his brothers laughed at him. Even
though she knew it was mean-spirited and out of character for her, she enjoyed the sound of it all the
way out the door. She couldn’t wait to get home and take a long, hot shower to wash away the awful
experience. This is when she remembered that Ginger had witnessed the whole horrible ordeal, and
she realized that her phone was going to start ringing at any moment. To cut off the endless questions
from people around town, she placed her phone on silent and threw it in her purse. All she wanted to
do was put the mortifying night and the cocky cop far behind her.
 Chapter Three

Even though the food was piping hot, it was a “cold” breakfast as Noah sat across from the rest of his
family around the table. His family could give new definition to a nuclear war when they were upset
about something. He got an earful from his father after work. His brothers and sister continued to
ridicule him about how he failed to live up to the family legacy.
“Honestly, are we all just going to sit here and let him continue to ruin our family reputation?”
Bessie, Noah’s older sister, who was also the only female cop in the Faith Valley police department,
asked the rest of the family as she shoved the food around on her plate. “Maybe Noah just isn’t cut out
to be a cop like the rest of us. I mean, he did take those two years to ‘find himself’ before he decided
to go through the police academy.” She glanced over at their mother and shrugged. “Maybe he’s just
got too much of Mom in him.”
Their mother seemed to perk up at the idea of that. A warm smile spread across her face as she
reached out and squeezed her youngest child’s hand. “Bessie has a point. You’ve always been more of
an artistic soul. You could go back to school and study architecture or history.”
“I can just see that now; Professor West teaching art history at the local junior college,” Clayton
snorted with a roll of his eyes. “Mom always did want one of us to buck the system and not become a
first responder.”
“I never said such a thing,” their mother stated with a huff. “I know how important it is to your
father that all of you carry on the family tradition.”
“Yes, but maybe the hero gene skipped Noah. After all, he’s about as useless as a screen door on
a submarine,” Clayton persisted, gesturing between himself and Marshal. “Not everyone can be built
the way we are. I mean, just look at us, we were born to save people.”
“Hey now, I resent that. I may not have muscles rippling over every inch of my body, but I’m a
heck of a good detective,” Bessie objected with a frown.
“You do great for a girl,” Marshal nodded with approval.
“I do great for anyone,” Bessie corrected through gritted teeth. “It’s time the two of you give me
the respect I deserve.”
“What about me?” Noah asked, wondering why Bessie wasn’t standing up for him like she
normally did.
“Sorry, Noah, but you’re on your own on this one. I’ve defended you one time too many, and you
really messed up badly this time,” his sister said with a sympathetic smile. “I hate to say it, but
Clayton might be right. You might want to think about another career path.”
 “Hush your mouths,” their father shouted as he let his fists come down hard on the wooden table.
“Noah is a cop and he’s going to remain a cop. No one is going to say something contrary anymore.
Do I make myself clear?”
All of Noah’s siblings nodded their heads as their mother stood from the table. “I need to get
ready for a women’s auxiliary meeting. I’ll see all of you later tonight for dinner.”
Their housekeeper, Mattie, came out of the kitchen and set to work clearing the table. The rest of
them, one by one, dispersed to different parts of the massive estate.
Frustrated with his family, Noah couldn’t wait to get away from them and head to his place in the
pool house. Sometimes it felt like it was the only sanctuary he had from their judgment and
interference.
He constantly checked his watch as he went through his emails, keenly aware that he only had an
hour before he had to return to work to cover a shift for a fellow officer that needed the day off. As
the rookie in the department, he didn’t have the option to say ‘no.’ He had to help out and fill in
whenever and wherever he was needed.
Even though he tried to distract himself from the hurtful words from his family, they kept replaying
in his mind. When they acted like this, he didn’t even feel like a part of his own family. It was as if he
was on the outside looking in, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t live up to the expectations
his family had for him. Why was it so difficult for them to help him rather than pick on him? Was that
why Sean didn’t want anything to do with them? Was he aware of how awful they could be and kept
his distance because of it? Deciding that he didn’t want to be alone anymore, he opened up the
website for Disaster City Search and Rescue to look up Sean’s contact information. He clicked the
email address, then waffled back and forth over whether he wanted to actually go through with it and
reach out. There was a high likelihood that his half-brother wouldn’t even respond, and Noah had to
be okay with that possibility. Of course, on the other hand, Sean could want a family connection as
much as Noah did. In the end, what did he have to lose? Before he could back out, he typed the
following message.

HI S EAN,

I KNOW YOU DON’ T KNOW ME , BUT I’ M YOUR HALF - BROTHER , NOAH . I LIVE WITH OUR FATHER IN FAITH
Valley. I’m also a cop for the police department here, though navigating the job has proven to be
harder than I expected. Recently, I found out that you’re a search and rescue officer and instructor
for Disaster City Search and Rescue. I’m impressed because that is one of the best search and
rescue academies in the world. I’m not sure if you would be willing, but I would love to meet with
you sometime and pick your brain about your job. I hope to hear from you soon,

YOUR BROTHER , NOAH .

NOAH TOOK A DEEP BREATH AND HELD IT AS HIS MOUSE HOVERED OVER THE SEND BUTTON . THIS WAS IT ,
the moment of no return. If he pushed it, he couldn’t wonder about Sean anymore and make up
different narratives about getting to know him. Once he sent the email, it would no longer be in his
hands. “Dear Lord, I want to do the right thing. I think you would want me to know all my siblings and
show them your love. Please open the door if this is meant to be.” A peace cascaded over him, and he
felt like God was telling him to go ahead and send the email. Not giving himself a chance to talk
himself out of it, he pressed the button.
He wasn’t sure how Sean was going to react to the email but he had to try. Noah, just like Sean,
didn’t fit in with their family, and they had that in common. He wondered if there was anything else
they might share and hoped he might have the chance to find out.
He’d only returned to checking his email for a few minutes, when the little green light popped on
next to the messenger box for “Apple99.” He lit up with excitement, ready to talk to the friendly
twenty-three-year-old who matched with him on the Small Town Dating app. It seemed more and
more, talking to her online was the best part of his day.

HEY BLACKS HEEP 98

I SAW YOU WERE ONLINE AND WANTED TO SEE IF YOU HAD TIME TO CHAT FOR A LITTLE BIT BEFORE I
take off for work.

NOAH IMAGINED THE TALL BLONDE SITTING ON HER COUCH WITH HER LAPTOP , CURLED UP WITH A CUP
of coffee before heading off to work. She’d mentioned in her profile that she was addicted to the
“java magic” and couldn’t live without it. Her quirky profile was littered with funny and honest truths
about herself. He could tell she wasn’t making up her stats just to get a guy’s attention. She was being
her authentic self and he liked that. Even though they didn’t have everything in common, he had
requested the match. When it turned out that she had hearted him in return, he couldn’t have been
happier. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have a profile picture and only listed the mandatory physical
attributes. He’d known too many friends over the years that based everything on how a girl looked,
only for it to turn out bad because they put too much emphasis on appearance. Besides, he didn’t show
his own photo because of his job. This meant both of them were on the site looking for something that
went beyond skin deep.

GOOD MORNING , APPLE 99.

HOW ARE YOU DOING ?

THREE BUBBLES APPEARED , LETTING HIM KNOW THAT SHE WAS TYPING BACK. THEN HER MESSAGE
appeared.

NOT SO GREAT .
Had a rough night.

HE DIDN ’ T LIKE HEARING THAT AND IMMEDIATELY WANTED TO SHOW HER HIS SUPPORT .

WHAT HAPPENED ?
Are you okay?

THE BUBBLES APPEARED AGAIN FOLLOWED BY HER NEW MESSAGE.

I’ M FINE .
Just had a run-in with a real jerk.
He accused me of something I didn’t do.
It was embarrassing,
but I’m trying to get over it.
Enough about me though.
How was your last shift?

NOAH HADN ’ T TOLD APPLE99 THAT HE WAS A COP FOR A COUPLE OF REASONS . F IRST AND FOREMOST ,
he didn’t want to end up with a badge bunny who was only after him because of the uniform and the
power. It was the whole reason he hadn’t put it on his profile. There was also the fact that she might
be anti-cop. He often got judged wrongly when he told someone what he did for a living. He hoped if
Apple99 got to know him as a person first, he could show her that not all cops fit the negative
stereotype that often circulated about them. He wanted someone to get to know him without getting
blinded by his badge. Since Apple99 didn’t know about his career choice, he couldn’t directly tell
her about the uppity school teacher who had added salt to the wound with her departing words as she
left the substation. His brothers hadn’t let him live it down how he’d single-handedly managed to
infuriate the hottest new resident of Faith Valley. They were right; she was smoking hot with her long
legs, athletic frame, and long blonde hair. Even when she was angry at him and piercing him with her
icy blue eyes, he couldn’t help but notice how gorgeous she was under all that anger. He knew he
deserved her wrath for making the mistake of wrongfully arresting her and putting her through so much
grief, but it had been an honest mistake. He thought he was helping the community by taking a drunk
driver off the road.
HELLO , ARE YOU THERE ?

NOAH SHOOK HIMSELF BACK TO THE PRESENT , REMINDING HIMSELF THAT HE HAD A WONDERFUL WOMAN
wanting to talk to him on the other end of his chat window. Deciding to focus on a viable candidate
for his attention, he quickly replied.

S ORRY , I’ M HERE .
You made me think about work
and I got distracted.
It was awful.
I made a huge mistake
that everyone found out about.
My co-workers made fun of me,
and my boss ripped me a new one over it.

THE BUBBLE AND DOTS RETURNED AND THEN HER MESSAGE.

T HAT STINKS .
I’m sorry you had to go through that.
I’m sure it will get better.
Just remember, tomorrow is a new day,
and you’re never alone.
God’s got your back,
and so do I, for that matter.
I’m here for you, BlackSheep98,
whenever you need to talk.

HER KIND WORDS WERE THE EXACT SALVE HE NEEDED TO EASE THE PAIN OF HIS NIGHT . J UST LIKE HIM,
she didn’t give much specifics about her work other than she was employed at a school in some
capacity. She often talked about how if it hadn’t been her calling, she wouldn’t be doing it because of
the amount of stress she was often under. It was probably why they related so well—he felt the same
way about his job. Being a cop was more than a paycheck to him, it was his passion. He couldn’t
imagine doing anything else with his life.

T HANKS , APPLE 99.

That means a lot to me.
 It’s nice to know
I have someone on my side.

THE BUBBLES APPEARED AGAIN , THEN HER WORDS FOLLOWED .

ALWAYS !
I’ll be praying
you have a better shift tonight.

HE SMILED TO HIMSELF , GRATEFUL THAT NOT ONLY WAS SHE FUNNY AND KIND , BUT HAD A FAITH IN GOD
that surpassed all her other wonderful attributes. Just when he thought she couldn’t get any better, she
proved him wrong.

T HAT MEANS A LOT , APPLE 99.

Sometimes I feel so alone.
Work is tough,
and my family just doesn’t understand me.

IT DIDN ’ T TAKE LONG FOR HER TO RESPOND . IT WAS AS IF SHE KNEW WHAT HE NEEDED TO HEAR .

I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU FEEL .

I moved away from everyone and everything I knew,
and it’s been really difficult.
More than I thought it was going to be.
Making friends has been hard.
Everyone grew up with each other in this town.
Speaking of making friends,
I was wondering if you wanted to finally
set a date for getting together.
How does this Friday night sound?

NOAH’ S EYEBROWS ARCHED UP , AND HE INHALED SHARPLY AS HE RE- READ HER LATEST CORRESPONDENCE
three times. His fingertips hovered over the keyboard of his computer as he wondered how to
respond. On the one hand, he wanted to meet up with Apple99 and get to know her in real life. She
seemed like the perfect woman and felt like they could be a good match. On the other hand, he’d had
really bad luck with dating in the past. He’d felt all the emotions while dating: excitement, dread,
distrust, optimism, and even horror. There had been a couple of out-of-control desperate women, a
few clingers, and several badge bunnies. Some were obvious about their tendencies early on, while
others didn’t show their true nature until far into getting to know them. In the end, none of them had
turned into long-term relationships of substance, and he was left with little to show for it except a
heart full of trepidation when it came to dating. Unable to shake the fear he still felt because of his
past failures in the dating realm, he decided to put off meeting for just a little while longer.

I WON ’ T BE ABLE TO MEET THIS WEEKEND

because of everything going on at work.
Can we rain check for another time?

THERE WAS A LONG PAUSE THIS TIME BEFORE HER FINAL MESSAGE SHOWED UP .

I HAVE TO GET GOING ;

don’t want to be late for work.

THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE, AND HER GREEN LIGHT TURNED OFF . APPLE99 USUALLY ENDED HER
messages with either talk to you soon or XOXO. This time, he could feel the shortness in her reply. It
was as if she wasn’t promising further communication, and he wondered if he messed up with her,
just like he did at work. Did he scare her off by not committing to meeting up? What was wrong with
him? Why couldn’t he seem to get it together to make things easier in his life rather than harder?
Noah finally let out the sigh he’d been holding inside, and shut off his computer. He didn’t have
time to dwell on his mistakes a moment longer; he needed to get back to work on time before he got in
trouble for the second time in the same day. He scrambled to change into a fresh uniform before
heading out the door.
 Chapter Four

Even though Audree had signed off from her account from her Small Town Dating app and put her
laptop away, she continued to go over and over BlackSheep98’s firm rejection of her suggestion to
meet in person. When she had made the offer, she was certain he was going to say ‘yes.’ She thought
they had a real connection; however, after the lame excuse he gave her, she wondered if she was
wrong. Should she cut off communication and part ways if he wasn’t that into her? She didn’t need to
be pining after some guy who clearly didn’t care enough about her to want to meet in person. She, too,
was busy with her own job, which she would be late for if she didn’t hurry up and get ready.
Almost to prove her point, her alarm clock beeped across the room. Audree stood up and walked
over to her nightstand to turn off the annoying sound. She needed to hurry to finish getting ready if she
was going to be early to get her class ready for the school day.
After a stretch of her arms and a long yawn, she headed into her bathroom. It had been a long
night. She’d had to call the airport rental car company in Houston and ask them to deliver a vehicle
for her use while her car was being fixed at the mechanic shop in town. The rental company had
charged her nearly double because of the rush and how late it was, but she didn’t have a choice. On
top of it, she had to stay up to sign the paperwork when they arrived. It was nearly three in the
morning before she finally got to bed, and her groggy head and tired body were feeling every lost
moment of sleep as she started her day.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Audree made quick work of curling her hair and pinning it half-back with
bobby pins. She added some powder, mascara, and lipstick to finish her makeup. She slipped into a
blue blouse and pair of khakis pants before confirming in her mirror that her outfit worked well
together. On her way out the door, she grabbed her purse and locked her apartment behind her.
What she didn’t expect when she turned the key in the ignition of her rental car was for her clock
to read fifteen past seven. In a panic, she grabbed her purse to search for her phone. When she
couldn’t find it, she realized she must have left it inside her apartment. She jumped out of her car and
rushed inside. She froze in place, a feeling of something being out of place bothering her. Had she
locked her door? Had someone gone inside while she was down in her car? She glanced around and
tried to push the feeling away. Stop it; don’t let what happened with Cory weird you out, she
chastised herself, you don’t have time for your nerves to get the better of you.
She rushed into her room and frantically searched for her phone. Her hand slid under the edge of
her pillow until she felt the cold metal rectangle under her fingertips. If it had been a snake, it would
have bitten her. She glanced down at the screen and confirmed her worst fear. Sure enough, it showed
the same time as her rental car, nearly a half-hour later than what she thought it was.
Did she really lose track of that much time talking to BlackSheep98, or did her alarm clock get
turned back somehow? No matter what happened, she didn’t have time to figure it out. Audree needed
to get to the school as fast as possible. She sprinted to her car and hopped inside, turned on the
ignition and pressed her foot on the gas pedal, urging her car to race down the street. Even though she
knew she shouldn’t speed, she couldn’t help it. The last thing she wanted to do was show up late.
Jillian was a great boss and would probably overlook it. Her students would love the chance to
ridicule her for it, not to mention tell their parents about it. She could only imagine the long tirade of
emails she would receive from irate parents. The thought of it caused a trickle of perspiration to bead
on her forehead as she pressed her lips together and tightly gripped the steering wheel. She
mercilessly pressed the gas pedal against the floorboard, causing the engine to rev and the vehicle to
shudder and lurch forward.
The jolting sound of sirens caused her whole body to jerk. Reflexively, she released her foot and
looked in her rearview mirror. The red and blue lights of a black and white Faith Valley police car
flashed in her eyes. As an officer in a blue uniform approached, she stiffened with apprehension and
tried to swallow the lump that had formed in the back of her throat. It’s okay, Audree. You can explain
why you were driving so fast, she told herself. Silently, she sent up a prayer, asking God to help her
calm down.
As she rolled down her window and turned her head to make eye contact with the officer, she
couldn’t believe who it was. Officer Noah West. Her apprehension turned into barely-controlled rage
as she narrowed her eyes and clenched her hands in her lap. She could feel her nails biting into the
flesh of her palms, but it was a small price to pay to keep from blowing up and ending up back at the
police station again.
Noah bent down and looked through the window, his eyes widening in recognition. “Miss Hall, I
wasn’t expecting to find you behind the wheel of this vehicle.”
“I didn’t expect to have to deal with you for a second time in less than twelve hours,” she quipped
back in anger. “At this point, part of me wonders if you’re stalking me.” As soon as she said the
words, she regretted it. Why did her mind automatically go there? Cory, that’s why. He was always in
the back of her thoughts, haunting her like a monster she couldn’t run from. After all she had been
through back in Houston though, she knew better than anyone not to make light of something so
serious. She wasn’t about to retract her statement, however, and let Officer West off the hook. She let
the accusation hang between them like an awkward first kiss.
“No, I honestly didn’t know it was you,” he quickly defended as he lowered his brows and shook
his head. “And for the record, you were driving entirely too fast. This is a residential street. Kids
walk to school along it.”
“Obviously, I don’t want you to think I’m making things up like you thought I did last night,” she
taunted as her lips curled into a snarl, “but I was late for work and didn’t want to get in trouble, so I
rushed a little faster than I should have. I wasn’t thinking about anything other than getting to the
school. As far as the car goes, I had to get a rental since you decided to tow my vehicle last night.”
“I did you a favor; it was wrecked. I guarantee it wasn’t going to run,” Officer West explained as
his neck corded with frustration.
“Are you sure about that? Do you work as a mechanic when you aren’t fumbling around as a
rookie cop?” she asked sarcastically as she tried to hold her anger in check. What was it with this
guy? Why did he seem to rub her the wrong way all the time? She knew she shouldn’t push him,
considering he held all the power at the current moment. He looked like he was fuming underneath his
stern, chiseled face. Part of her didn’t care if she infuriated him, though. She was tired of letting him
have the upper hand and snapped out, “Just so you know, I’m not willing to take your word on the
matter. There’s nothing that’s shown me you know what you’re doing.”
His cheeks turned red momentarily as he shifted his stance back and forth. As if he was trying to
put on a brave front, he crossed his arms over his muscular chest as a perturbed expression settled on
his face. “I don’t know how many times I have to apologize for what happened. Frankly, I’m getting
sick of it. I made a mistake, and I feel bad about it, but I refuse to let it be the defining moment of my
career.”
“You should have thought of that before you refused to listen to me, or follow what you were
trained to do, for that matter,” she snapped at him.
He rubbed the back of his neck as he pressed his lips together as if thinking about his response.
His face softened as he finally said, “Look, I know I can’t make it up to you completely, but how
about this? What if I let you off today with just a warning as a way of trying just a little bit?”
“You’re right; it doesn’t, but I don’t have time to sit here and argue about what you did. Like I
said, I’m late for work, and you pulling me over is only making it worse.”
Frustration spread across his face before he stepped back and waved her away. “Then, by all
means, be on your way. Just do both of us a favor. Drive carefully the rest of the way to the high
school.”
She didn’t like his dismissive attitude, but by the time she formed the perfect rebuttal, he was
already walking away. The only thing left to do was roll up her car window and take off. Five
minutes later, she arrived at the school. It took an additional ten minutes to park her car and make her
way to her classroom that was attached to the side of the theater.
Audree nearly made it without interruption, but she saw Lacey Montclair, the head of the English
department and her direct boss, heading toward her. By the knowing look on the other woman’s face,
Audree knew Lacey was aware of her debacle last night, most likely through the Faith Valley gossip
grapevine.
“Audree Hall, I had no idea you had a bad girl side to you,” the redheaded woman, who was only
a couple of years older than Audree, said with a wink. “I never would have thought you would get
arrested and hauled off to the local jail.” Even though she was her boss, they’d found their way to
friendship fast. They were opposites in many ways. Lacey was outgoing, and Audree tended to be
more reserved. The big thing they had in common, however, was that they were both single. This
made Lacey latch onto Audree since the majority of the staff at the high school was either married or
coupled up.
Over lunch, Lacey often lamented her dating disasters while Audree contentedly listened. It
passed the time quickly, and Lacey didn’t seem to mind that Audree never talked about her own dating
life. The one occasion Lacey pried out information about BlackSheep98 from Audree was when her
friend saw her reply to a message.
“I don’t, and for the record, it was a wrongful arrest by an idiot rookie cop that couldn’t
distinguish his head from a hole in the ground,” she stated bitterly.
“Clearly, you’re not over what happened yet,” Lacey commented with a sympathetic smile. “It
doesn’t even help that it happens to be the most handsome of all the West brothers?”
“I never even noticed,” Audree quickly replied, knowing that the cover for the truth sounded flat
even to her own ears.
“And here we all thought you’re supposed to be the expert actor since you’re teaching acting at
the high school. Makes me wonder if Jillian did the right thing by hiring you,” Lacey teased. “It’s not
your fault. Noah West is hard to miss with his piercing hazel eyes, square jaw, and adorable dimples,
not to mention his body that is perfectly taut in all the right places.”
“Sounds like you might be the one with a crush on him,” Audree pointed out.
“Hey, I’m not the one that he has to make it up to for falsely arresting her. If it was me, and I had
the chance you do, I would totally milk that situation for all it’s worth. Coax him in to taking you out
to dinner to make up for it.”
“I don’t work that way,” Audree explained with a shrug. She also left out the fact that she wasn’t
ready to date after what happened in Houston. When Lacey had signed her up for the Small Town
Dating app and made her profile, Audree had been furious. She was about to delete it when the app
suggested the profile for the mysterious BlackSheep98. As she read through his interests and hobbies,
she was intrigued. Without knowing why, she swiped ‘yes’ to connect with him. When they matched
and he reached out to her, she’d debated for two days whether to respond. Once she finally worked up
the courage to do it, she’d been surprised how easy it was to talk to him and how much she grew to
look forward to their online conversations. That’s why it hurt so much that he rejected her offer to
meet. She hadn’t put herself out there ever since…she wasn’t going to think about that or him. She
was in Faith Valley now and starting a new life far away from her painful past.
“There’s always a first time,” Lacey encouraged with a pat on Audree’s back. “You need to spend
time with a real person rather than all that time with your online crush. I thought it was a good idea at
first, just to get your feet wet around here, but now you don’t do anything other than work, go to
church and talk to BlackSheep98 online. I mean, what kind of name is that, anyway?”
“He has a hard time with his family,” Audree explained. “I get it. My parents put a lot of pressure
on me growing up to be the best at everything. College was a way for me to escape, and after, I
moved to Texas to get even farther away. I needed the room to breathe.”
“To each their own. I love my family and being close to them,” Lacey said with a flip of her red
curls. “Anyway, you better hurry. The bell’s about to ring.”
Audree refrained from pointing out that if Lacey hadn’t stopped her, she would have been able to
get to her room a lot faster. As it was, she was barely going to be able to get there and prepare before
her first class started. Instead, she said, “I’ll see you at lunch.”
“And we’re going to talk more about Noah West. Don’t think you got out of it that easy.”
She immediately regretted making plans with her friend, wanting to forget the whole incident. She
let out a sigh as she hurried to the side of the theater, knowing that Lacey was just the first of many
Faith Valley residents wanting to know the details.
When she arrived at the door to her classroom, she was greeted by her usual group of theater kids.
They were anxiously waiting to hang out in her room before school started.
“Where have you been, Miss Hall? You’re never late,” Macy West was the first to point out as she
followed her through the door, trailed by the other students. “I need to talk to you about the fall play.”
“Why are Wests popping up all around me?” Audree grumbled to herself in irritation, knowing
that she was going to have to calm Macy down for the umpteenth time about their upcoming
production of Our Town.
“What are you talking about, Miss Hall? Did something happen with someone in my family?”
Macy asked in confusion, as she brushed her dark brown hair behind her ears nervously.
Audree reminded herself it wasn’t the teenager’s fault that she had to deal with her uncle twice in
a period of twelve hours. She needed to rein in her feelings and stop taking it out on one of the
youngest West family members. “Nothing important. I got delayed, and it’s messed up my whole
morning, but that’s not your fault.” She flicked on the lights and headed toward her desk, with Macy
trailing after her. Everyone else gathered over on the small stage in the corner of the room and started
chatting amongst themselves.
A flush crept across Macy’s cheeks as she took a seat in the chair next to Audree. Her hands
curled around her middle as she bit her lip.
“What is it that you need to talk to me about, Macy?” Audree asked as she sat next to the girl.
“Miss Hall, I’m worried I’m not going to be able to pull off the lead role in the play,” she
confessed as tears filled the corners of her hazel eyes.
“I get that you’re afraid you aren’t going to be able to remember all the lines—the play is very
dialogue-driven—but I picked you for a reason. You’re a very talented actor.”
“Thank you, but that’s not what’s bothering me,” she mumbled as her chin dipped into her chest.
“Then what is it?” Audree asked with concern. “You know you can tell me anything.”
Macy went quiet for several seconds before clearing her throat and whispering, “I’m afraid no
one is going to believe me as Emily. She’s such an articulate and enchanting character, I don’t think I
can do her justice.”
She reached out and patted the girl’s arm reassuringly. “That’s just not true, Macy. I don’t think
you realize how truly gifted you are when it comes to acting. I honestly think that if you pursue acting
after high school, you could make it into a career.”
“I wish my dad felt that way,” she said with hunched shoulders. “When I brought up going out to
L.A. to pursue acting rather than going to nursing school next year, he completely lost his mind. He
told me, ‘Every member of the West family picks a job as a first responder. It’s our duty and our
legacy.’ There’s no way he’d ever sign off on me making it a career,” Macy lamented as she tried to
hold back a sob. “I love acting so much, but he thinks it’s a waste of time, just like he does my
painting. He didn’t even come to my last art show.”
“I’m really sorry to hear that, Macy. I can’t tell you how to handle the situation with your father.
All I can tell you is that it’s not wrong to want to go after what makes you happy. If you want, you can
come in at lunch and we can pray about the situation,” she offered, knowing that Macy would
appreciate it since she was a strong Christian. Not only was Macy an active leader in the youth group
at Faith Valley Church, but she served under Audree in the nursery.
“Really? That would make me feel so much better,” Macy said with a warm smile.
“I’d pray with you now, but the bell is about to ring,” Audree explained as she looked up at the
clock to confirm the time. Her first period students were already filing into the classroom and taking
their seats.
“That’s okay, Miss Hall, I can wait until lunch. Just knowing you are here for me makes all the
difference in the world.”
“We can also go over any scenes you’re concerned about so you’re ready for practice this
afternoon,” Audree offered further.
“Oh yes, that would help so much. You’re the best teacher ever,” she gushed with praise, before
jumping up from her seat and heading toward the door. Over her shoulder, she added, “See you at
lunch, Miss Hall.”
The satisfaction she got from helping one of her students cascaded over her as she pulled out her
notes for today’s lesson. They were starting their Shakespeare section, and she needed to be ready for
the complex subject matter.
Audree sent a quick text to Lacey explaining she was going to have to work with a student. At
least it got her out of having to talk about Noah West, which was a welcome relief. That man had been
taking up far too much of her time over the past twelve hours.
 The bell rang, and she quickly set to work going over the life of William Shakespeare with her
students.
 Chapter Five

Noah was surrounded by the entire West family, but he might as well be completely alone. He didn’t
relate to any of them, or at least that’s how he felt. All of them were the best in their first responder
fields from his cousins that were doctors, paramedics, and nurses to his siblings and cousins that
were police officers and volunteer firefighters. Even though he had followed after all of them and
gone into “the family business”—for lack of a better term—he just didn’t feel like he could live up to
everyone’s expectations. From the disappointed looks and laughter directed at him from around the
backyard of his uncle’s ranch, it was clear he wasn’t the only one who thought so.
Tired of all the gawkers, he stood up from his seat at one of the tables and marched inside the
house. He was on the hunt to find a quiet corner of the house and wait out the required two hours
before anyone was allowed to leave the weekly family dinner. He found a spot in his aunt’s formal
living room and leaned back on one of the couches. Maybe he could get a couple of minutes of shut-
eye. He needed it after the constant brow-beating and mocking he’d been receiving over the last few
days.
“I just can’t believe Noah arrested Miss Hall. She’s like the nicest person I’ve ever met,” the
familiar voice of his cousin Leila said to their other cousin, Macy, as they entered the room and came
around into his view. “I usually hate my teachers every year, but not Miss Hall. She really cares about
us.”
“She’s the best thing to ever happen to the theater department,” Macy agreed with a nod. “She
helped me so much with my part in the fall play, and that was after what our cousin put her through.
I’m just glad she didn’t decide to take it out on me.”
“She shouldn’t. You can’t help it if you’re related to him,” Leila confirmed with a wrinkle of her
nose.
For the first time, the pair seemed to notice Noah lying on the couch. Macy’s gaze locked with
Noah’s, and her eyes rounded with shock as she tucked her arms in at her sides. “Sorry, Noah, we
didn’t know you were in here,” she mumbled before glancing around as if looking for a way to
escape.
“You don’t have to apologize to him, Macy. He’s the one who’s in the wrong.”
“You two are still just kids, barely knee-high to a grasshopper. Perhaps you should refrain from
passing judgment on a situation you don’t know anything about,” Noah snapped out as he sat up and
placed his hands on his knees. “As for Miss Hall, I have nothing but the utmost respect for her and
didn’t mean to cause her any problems. I was just doing my job.”
 “Really? Arresting someone for something they didn’t do is part of your job?” Leila challenged
with a smirk. “Pretty sure your brothers wouldn’t have done that. Of course, we all know they’re
better at being a cop than you are.”
“Leila, that was mean to say,” Macy gasped out with a look of disbelief. “Noah is doing the best
he can. Being a West isn’t as easy for some of us as it is the rest of you.”
“You’re seriously taking his side? I thought you were on Miss Hall’s team,” Leila challenged with
a frown.
“Don’t get me wrong, I care about Miss Hall, but Noah is our cousin. He needs to be supported
right now, not persecuted for a mistake.” Macy walked over and took a seat next to him, wrapping her
arms through his. “If you can’t find it in you to do that, maybe you should just go.”
“Whatever, I need to go talk to Jeff in another room anyway,” Leila stated with a huff as she spun
around and scurried out of the room.
Noah wanted to be upset with his cousin, but he reminded himself that Leila was dealing with a
lot of pain and anger ever since her mother died last year from cancer. It was tough being the only girl
cousin in the family without a mother, and she tended to take it out on anyone who was convenient.
Macy turned to face Noah and gave him a sympathetic smile. “Noah, I didn’t mean to come off
like I didn’t care about your side of things. We’ve always been close, and I know you’re a good
person. You’d never do anything to hurt anyone on purpose.”
“I’m glad that at least someone in the family believes I wouldn’t. You would think I started World
War III the way everyone has been acting the past few days.”
“They just can’t accept when anyone in the family doesn’t fall into the perfect little boxes they’ve
created for us. Believe me, I know better than anyone,” she stated with a soft sigh. “My dad doesn’t
want me to waste my time acting or painting. I love them both so much that I can’t see myself doing
anything else with my life. He says I’m naive for even thinking about it and wants me to focus on
becoming a doctor or a nurse.”
“There was never any other option than becoming a cop for me,” Noah admitted as he leaned back
on the couch, causing Macy to move with him. “Don’t get me wrong; I love it. I just wish I wasn’t
always having to live up to the standard my brothers and sister set for me.”
“Seems we’re in the same boat, destined to disappoint the rest of the family,” Macy stated with a
sigh as they both looked up at the gold-flecked ceiling. “At least we have each other.”
“This is true. You mentioned your fall play earlier. How is that going?”
“Better now that Miss Hall helped me figure out a few lines I was struggling with. I think I’ll be
able to pull it off by the end of the month now.” Sitting up, she turned and pulled on Noah’s sleeve.
“You’re coming, right? You’ll be there to support me, won’t you?”
Even though he knew that meant the possibility of seeing Audree again—and she didn’t seem like
she would like that very much after their last encounter—he couldn’t stand to disappoint his younger
cousin. Nodding his head, he reluctantly agreed. “Of course, I will be there.”
Macy reached out and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tight as she shouted with
glee, “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m not sure if anyone else from the family will come, but at
least I know I have you in my corner.”
“Always,” he assured her as he hugged her back.
“I hate to say this, but we’ve probably stayed away long enough. We should probably head back
outside with the rest of the family before our dads come looking for us.”
“It is about time for dinner, isn’t it?” Noah asked, even though he knew that everyone would be
settling into seats around the tables outside on the patio. He had hoped to avoid it, but his cousin was
right. There was a high chance his absence wouldn’t go unnoticed, especially since he’d been the talk
of the family, and town, for that matter.
When they arrived back outside, everyone was taking their seats. Macy’s father, Cletus, took a
spot at the front of the group. As the oldest of the three senior West brothers and the mayor of Faith
Valley, he was used to taking charge. He raised his hand and cleared his throat to quiet the group.
Everyone’s eyes turned to focus on him.
“Good evening, everyone. I promise to make this short. I usually start our dinners off with prayer,
but, I need to make an announcement, before I tell the rest of the town the big news.” There was a
purposeful hesitance in his speech, as if he was weighing his words before he continued. “Faith
Valley is finally going to get our own firehouse.” There were a few gasps and a flurry of whispers
before he raised his hand a second time. “We’ve been operating with a volunteer fire department for
years now, and the crew has done a wonderful job. Many of the volunteers, however, have other jobs
and commitments, which makes them unable to give us the time we need to make sure we have the
correct fire breaks, code enforcement around town, and response time for fires.”
“Where is the new firehouse going to be?” Marshal called out from the back, clearly interested
because he was one of the volunteers for the current fire crew. Though just as their Uncle Cletus
mentioned, he was often too busy with police work to always respond to calls.
“We’ve managed to cut enough costs in the annual budget and raise additional funds to cover the
repurpose of the old bakery building on Main Street.”
“Are you sure it’s big enough and can handle what we need?” Marshal asked further, clearly
irritating their uncle, who was giving him a be-quiet look of frustration.
“Marshal, if you want to discuss the specifics of the project, why don’t you come talk to me after
dinner?” When Noah’s brother nodded his head, Uncle Cletus continued. “What I need from all of you
is support in bringing in the new fire chief, who will be arriving at the end of next month. In order to
make this expensive endeavor a success, we needed to bring in someone who was an expert to train
our firefighters. Fire Chief Bruce Martel is the best they have in Boston, and we’re lucky to get him to
agree to take the job.”
“Why would you hire an outsider?” Noah’s Uncle Kurt shouted out in anger. “We have plenty of
excellent candidates in our own family to take the position.”
“We’re going to have to pass several stages of inspections by both local and state authorities, and
there can’t be a hint of nepotism.”
“It’s okay, none of us want to become firefighters and betray the police badge anyway,” Clayton
shouted from beside Marshal, who didn’t seem to be as equally resolved as their older brother. Noah
wondered what was going on with Marshal. He seemed to be showing an odd mixture of intrigue and
anger. “Although, now that I think about it a bit more, maybe Noah should consider it. I doubt he’ll be
able to hold onto his police badge much longer if he stays on his current trend.”
Everyone’s attention flickered to him for a quick moment, causing his cheeks to burn red from the
scrutiny. Leave it to Clayton to take a moment that had nothing to do with Noah and use it to
embarrass him. He shrank into his seat and focused on the ground, wishing the night was already over.
“Don’t say that. No one wants to give up the badge for the hose,” Noah heard their cousin, Gavin,
who worked with them as a police detective, growl. “We make cops in this family, not ladder
monkeys.”
“Not just cops, we have medical first responders, too,” their cousin Aaron chirped up.
“Paramedics are just as valuable as cops.”
“And doctors, too,” Ethan, who was sitting beside his wife Nicole, added. “We work just as hard
as the rest of you, maybe harder.”
“Sitting in the E.R., and looking after patients we bring you hardly counts, Ethan,” Clayton
chastised with a flick of his wrist. “You can barely call yourself a first responder.”
“I resent that, since I’m training to be a doctor,” Cody, their other cousin said from across the
patio. “You cops think the world revolves around you, but you seem to forget who is there to save you
when you get in a car accident or take a bullet.”
“Hey now, don’t lump us all together,” Marshal defended. “Clayton speaks for himself only.”
“You can say that again,” Noah grumbled from his seat at the edge of the group.
“Have something to say, little brother?” Clayton questioned as he leaned over and glared at Noah.
“Come on, speak up then. We’re dying to hear what the rookie cop of the family has to say about this.
Considering you’ve done nothing but prove how little value you bring to the family, I’m sure you have
some whoppers of wisdom to bestow upon us.”
“That’s enough,” Noah’s father hollered at the top of his lungs as he jumped to his feet and came
to stand next to his brother at the front of the group. “We’re here for a family dinner, not to act like
we’re on the Jerry Springer show.”
“The what?” Leila asked in confusion as she looked at her uncle, then around at everyone else.
“Never mind,” Noah’s father let out in a sigh as he shook his head. “My point is, having an
official fire department and a designated firehouse is a huge accomplishment for any town. It’s the last
piece we need to make Faith Valley a full-fledged destination rather than just a gas stop on the road to
Dallas. We’re going to welcome the new fire chief and embrace everything he has to offer to make
Faith Valley the best town in all of Texas.”
“Cletus and Kurt are right; it’s our duty as the founding family of Faith Valley to stand united,”
Noah’s Uncle Dustin, the director of the local hospital, stated as he joined his brothers in front of the
family. He pushed his glasses back up his nose as he added, “We need to lead by example.”
Everyone seemed to settle down after the three brothers took their seats and Cletus prayed over
the meal. Noah was grateful because he wasn’t sure how much more he could take from his family.
Noah got a buzz and noticed a message from Apple99.

HOW IS YOUR WEEKEND GOING ?

HE WENT TO RESPOND , BUT HE DIDN ’ T GET MORE THAN A COUPLE OF WORDS TYPED BEFORE CLAYTON
pulled up a chair beside him and leaned over to snoop. Noah tried to hide his phone, but he wasn’t
quick enough. His brother yanked it away and made kissing noises. “Looks like you’ve got some
secret lady-friend none of us know about.”
“Give that back,” Noah snapped at his brother, reaching out to grab it.
“What are you going to give me for it?” Clayton questioned with an arch of his left eyebrow.
“Nothing, right, because you don’t have anything. You’re a rookie in the department and a bad one.
There isn’t anything you can give me that I would want.”
“I don’t care,” he stated through gritted teeth, but he knew deep down that wasn’t true. He wanted
his brother’s respect, but he wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to earn it.
“Oh, I don’t think that’s true. I bet you hate the fact that I heard you pulled Audree over a second
time on Friday morning and were close to giving her a ticket.”
 “How do you know that?” Noah asked with wide eyes. He thought he’d escaped everyone
knowing, but it turned out he was wrong.
“Birdie told me. If you’re going to pull someone over that close to the center of the town, you
should know that Birdie’s going to know about it. That’s the problem with you, Noah, you never think.
You need to get it together and represent the family better, not to mention the police department.”
Noah had had enough. He jumped up from his seat and reached out to snatch his phone back from
Clayton. “I do think, all the time. I may not be perfect, but at least I’m not a bully disguised as a jerk.”
Without waiting for a response, he stormed off, not caring that there was still a half-hour left of family
dinner. Everyone was already disappointed with him, so there wasn’t much more damage he could
do.
He made a quick response to Apple99 so she wouldn’t think he was avoiding her.

NOT THE BEST .

Family stinks.
I wish I was an only child.
Scratch that, better yet, an orphan.

HER THREE BUBBLES APPEARED FOLLOWED BY HER REPLY.

I GET THAT .
I have problems with my own.
Hang in there.
I’m here if you need to talk.

HE DEBATED HOW TO RESPOND NEXT . AFTER A COUPLE OF BEATS , HE TYPED HIS MESSAGE.

T HANKS .
I appreciate the support.
I need to go clear my head.
Talk to you soon.

NOAH CLIMBED INTO HIS CAR AND HEADED DOWN THE DIRT ROAD THAT LED FURTHER INTO HIS UNCLE’ S
property. He wasn’t even sure where he was going until he ended up down by the river. The large oak
tree and tire swing marked the spot where the three brothers’ ranches intersected, and where all of the
cousins played while growing up. He wondered if he would ever get married and have his own kids
play in the same place with their cousins. Sometimes he worried marriage and children weren’t in the
cards for him, considering how bad his dating life had been over the years. Was he going to fail at
finding a wife just like he did police work?
His phone buzzed again, and he pulled it out expecting another message from Apple99. Instead, it
was an alert letting him know he had a new email. He clicked the button and opened the list. At the
top, there was a message from his half-brother.

HI NOAH ,

I HAVE TO SAY , I’ M SURPRISED TO HEAR FROM YOU .

My mom thought it was best to keep contact to a minimum,
and our dad was fine with it.
As an adult, I didn’t see a need to change anything.
That said, I shouldn’t punish you for things our parents did.
If you want to come out to the DCSR campus,
I can give you a tour of the facility.
We can discuss your career and plans.
Let me know when would be a good time for you.

S EAN

IT WAS FUNNY HOW A BIT OF LIGHT CAME FROM THE MOST UNEXPECTED PLACES RIGHT WHEN HE NEEDED
it. Noah could feel himself smiling as he typed his response accepting his half-brother’s invitation.
 Chapter Six

The enticing scent of brewing coffee filled the air around Audree as she walked into the Dream Bean
Coffee Shop on the corner of Main Street. She inhaled sharply, savoring one of her favorite scents.
Her mouth watered in anticipation.
“Good morning, Audree. Do you want your usual vanilla breve latte?” Belinda Miles, the owner
of the shop asked as Audree approached the front counter.
“You know me too well,” she said with a smile as she opened up her wallet and pulled out the
five-dollar bill to pay.
“After today, I’ll know you even a little bit better. I’m so glad you decided to join us for book
club,” the friendly, sandy blonde said with a twinkle in her blue eyes. “It will be nice to have some
fresh blood in the group, especially an English and theater teacher. You can only listen to
“Sparknotes” quotes for so long before you want to bang your head against the wall to drown out the
rehearsed responses.” Audree knew that the other woman was referring to the youngest two members
of the book club, Marissa Swanson and Rebecca Taylor. The self-obsessed debutantes that were
determined to find rich husbands to take care of them. At one point or another, they had both even
gone after Clayton West, Noah’s older brother. He had gone out on a blind date with Jillian and tried
to make it into something more than it was. Jillian warned Audree that they weren’t there for the
books as much as to gossip. They often steered the conversation to topics about the small-town social
scene rather than the book they agreed to read. “You’ll like Kathy, though. She actually reads the
books and enjoys discussing them.” Kathy Winkler was the oldest member of the group and tended to
keep everyone else on track like a mother hen. Audree suspected the role came naturally to her since
she was the local grocery store manager and handled people for a living. Audree knew all three
women from church, though this was the first time she was socializing with any of them.
The tinkling sound of the doorbell behind Audree let her know that another customer was coming
into the shop. She turned around expecting to see one of the book club members, but instead, she was
met with the one person she’d had her fill of to last her a lifetime.
“Officer West, don’t you usually work the graveyard shift?” she asked with resentment. She
wasn’t sure why, but the handsome officer always managed to bring out the cattiest of behavior in her.
“It seems you’ve familiarized yourself with my schedule. Who’s the stalker now?” he teased with
a smirk as he came over to the counter and stood next to her.
Audree’s mouth fell open as she tried to think of a rebuttal, hating that he was able to throw her
own barb back at her all these days later. Finally, a comeback popped into her head, and she asked,
“Can I file a complaint with you?”
“About what?” he asked in confusion.
“About a nuisance. It started about a week ago and has progressively gotten worse over time,” she
stated in a tart tone as she looked directly at him. “I can’t seem to get away from it.”
“Me? Are you referring to me?” he questioned with surprise. “You do realize you live in the same
small town as I do. We’re going to run into each other; it’s unavoidable.”
She lifted her hands to both sides with her palms up and waved them in a way to make it clear she
didn’t care about his explanation. “I still want to file a complaint.”
With a heavy sigh and shrug, he pulled out some money and placed it on the counter.
Belinda slid his coffee across to him but didn’t take the money. Instead, she pushed it back in the
other direction. “I told you, Officer West, your money isn’t good here. I take care of the people who
take care of this town.”
“That’s mighty kind of you and much appreciated.” He picked up the money with his free hand, but
rather than slip it back in the pocket of his police uniform, he placed it in the tip jar. He pulled out
another five-dollar bill and placed it on the counter. “Miss Hall’s coffee is on me, too. I owe her far
more than that after all I have put her through.”
Audree didn’t like that it felt as if he was trying to buy her off through the gesture. Kind and
thoughtful as it appeared to be, she wasn’t done being mad at him. Her shunning of his generous act
didn’t seem to faze him; however, since he didn’t wait for a response from her. Instead, he turned
around and headed out the door.
“I can’t believe that just happened,” she muttered under her breath as she turned to face her friend
behind the counter.
“What just happened?” she heard the familiar voice of Marissa ask as she joined them by the
counter, Rebecca by her side. “Tell me it had something to do with Noah West since we just bumped
into him as he was leaving.”
“Man, oh man, is he dreamy,” Rebecca gushed as her chocolate eyes glazed over with admiration.
“What I wouldn’t give to have him arrest me like he did you, Audree.”
“I second that. He could put handcuffs on me any time,” Marissa added with a wag of her black
eyebrows.
Just like Jillian warned her, the women were focused on all the wrong things. “Believe me, it’s
not nearly as romantic as you think.”
“So you’re saying it’s a little bit romantic then?” Marissa latched on. “I heard there was a
connection between the two of you, but both of you are denying it.”
“Heard from who exactly?” Audree questioned with irritation as the four of them made their way
over to a table by the window.
As they all took seats, Marissa shrugged and averted her eyes. “I never reveal my sources.”
“Birdie, it was Birdie Jackson,” Rebecca revealed. After getting a withering look from her friend,
she added, “What, you said you never reveal your sources. I have no problem telling Audree that
Birdie told us all about her encounters with Noah.”
“I have no idea how she could have an accurate picture since she wasn’t present for either
incident.”
“Oh, Birdie has her ways,” Rebecca whispered. “She knew all about how I got Mono from my
boyfriend back in junior year.”
“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out you got Mono from your boyfriend,” Kathy Winkler said as
she joined the group. “Birdie isn’t omniscient; she’s just really good at gathering sources and making
educated assumptions—kind of like a fortune teller. It’s all smoke and mirrors.”
“Well, if that’s the case, she’s really good at the smoke and mirrors,” Rebecca said with a shake
of her head. “She makes everyone think she knows everything, which is why I thought there might
actually be something between you and Noah. He’s actually a pretty great guy, Audree. You could do
far worse than him, let me tell you.”
“And you can’t do much better,” Marissa added. “He’s a West, which means he’s loaded. Most of
them play at being first responders to keep themselves busy when they aren’t spending their trust
funds from their oil and cattle money. Also, he’s finer than a frog’s hair, if you haven’t noticed.”
“And don’t forget, most importantly, he’s a Christian and serves at the church. I’ve seen him help
out on a regular basis,” Belinda pointed out. “Plus, he never takes the free coffee when he comes in
here. He always leaves it as a ‘tip’ for me. None of the other cops in town do that.”
Audree wasn’t sure what to make of all the praise Noah was receiving from her new friends.
She’d spent so much time over the last week being mad at him; she hadn’t thought of him as anything
other than a cop that caused her trouble.
Before she could think of what that meant for her, the tinkle of the bell announced Jillian’s arrival,
completing their group. Between her and Kathy, they were able to turn the focus back to book club,
and Audree’s situation with Noah was left in the dust.
At least, for everyone but her. Everything they said about Noah kept replaying in her head. Her
friends made him sound like a great guy, but for the majority of her encounters with him, she’d only
seen the cocky, self-absorbed jerk that wrongfully arrested her. Or that was what she tried to convince
herself of. If she were honest, she’d also witnessed glimpses of the man they described, but not
enough to convince her that he wasn’t pretending to be something he wasn’t. She had far too much of
that with Cory to ever trust another guy that raised any red flags.
“Do you have anything to add about the book, Audree?” Jillian asked, bringing her back to the
club discussion.
She shook her head, unable to recall any facts good enough to share.
“I think she’s too busy thinking about Noah West,” Rebecca teased.
“I am not,” Audree denied to the group as she felt a blush creep across her cheeks. “I could care
less about Noah West. Why, he’s so vain, he thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow.”
“Well, he sort of has a right to; he’s a magnificent specimen of a man. If he showed me even an
inkling of interest, I’d be all over him like white on rice,” Marissa admitted.
The women gasped and giggled as Audree scrunched up her nose and shook her head. She wasn’t
sure why she was so unsettled by Noah, or why he kept coming back into her mind. She knew it went
beyond what happened a week ago, and that’s what disturbed her most of all. She wanted to write it
off as simple physical attraction, but part of her knew something else caused him to get under her skin.
For the last few minutes of their meeting, they finished up their talk about their current book and
assigned the next one. As the women said goodbye, Audree tried to sneak out before anyone could
stop her. She didn’t want to have to talk about Noah anymore.
The problem was, Jillian must have realized what she was up to. She reached out and grabbed her
arm. “Can you hang back? I want to talk to you before you go.”
“Can it wait until Monday? I’m pretty tired,” Audree tried to beg off.
“It will only take a few minutes,” Jillian told her with a smile. “I promise not to keep you long.”
From the look on her friend’s face, she could tell the subject matter was serious. Immediately, she
wondered what was wrong. She took a seat and waited for the other women to leave. Belinda
excused herself to go handle a couple of things in the back, leaving Audree alone with Jillian.
 “So, I was going to talk to you about this at work today, but I had several meetings I couldn’t get
out of and my day got away from me.” Jillian pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over to her.
Audree flipped it open and read the contents, then let out a small gasp. “Why would anyone send
this to you?”
“I’m not sure. I was hoping you might be able to explain that to me.”
“First of all, it’s not true. This isn’t why I left Houston,” Audree defended. “I left for personal
reasons.”
“I want to believe that, Audree, I really do. It’s just hard to when I get an anonymous email from
someone claiming to be a parent of a student you used to teach and supposedly had an intimate
relationship with. The parent said the school covered up what happened to protect the school’s
reputation, and that’s why when I called to verify your previous employment, it wasn’t brought up.”
“That’s not true. I’ve never done anything inappropriate with a student. Sure, I care about all of
them, but I’ve never crossed a line.”
“Okay, so if that’s true. Who would do this? Is there someone in Houston that would want to hurt
you?”
Cory’s face popped into her head, and dread seized her heart. It would be just like him to try to
ruin her new life to force her to move back, but she reminded herself, he couldn’t do that from behind
bars. This could just as easily be a former student trying to get back at her. It made way more sense
than her former boyfriend turned stalker finding a way to email her from prison without getting caught.
She could feel herself shaking with fear and anger, but tried to hold her reaction back as best as
she could, reminding herself that she was safe and no one could hurt her anymore. “I honestly don’t
know who’s behind this, but I can promise you, it’s a lie. Do whatever you have to to get to the bottom
of it because I’m telling you, it never happened. I’ve always lived my life with honor and integrity.”
“Tell you what, I’ll do some more digging and try to figure out where this came from. So far, I sent
an email back, and there hasn’t been a response, which does make me think it’s suspicious. I can also
have the school’s I.T. staff take a look to see if they can figure out where it came from.”
“That’s a great plan.”
“In the meantime, I want you to know I’m here for you as your boss and your friend. If you need
time off to sort this out, you’ve got it.”
It was tempting to take Jillian up on her offer, but it was only one week away from the night of the
fall play performance. She needed to stay focused until she saw it through. “Thanks, but there’s no
point. I have no idea who would do this or how to figure it out. It’s best if you handle it.”
“Whatever you think is best,” Jillian acknowledged as she stood up from her seat. “And this
should go without saying, but considering the sensitive nature of the email, I wanted you to know this
will stay strictly confidential and on a need-to-know basis.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I need to be going. Dylan is waiting for me to meet up with him for a late dinner.”
“Have a nice time,” Audree called out after Jillian. She stood up and went to get one more cup of
coffee to go. She knew it was a bad habit, especially to drink it so late at night, but she couldn’t help
it. She loved the stuff.
A few minutes later, she was headed out the door and making her way over to her car. A sudden
chill raced up her back, causing goose bumps to prickle all over her body. Her head darted around,
causing her blonde curls to fling around her face, as she looked for anyone around her. She continued
to walk to the corner, but the sensation that she was being watched never went away.
Her anxiety flared up as she fumbled to get the key in the lock, but the more she rushed, the harder
it got to get the key in the slot.
“Do you need help with that?” she heard the familiar voice of Noah West ask from behind her.
She spun around to find him standing a few feet behind her. She had her keys gripped in between
her knuckles, ready for a fight. She realized he must have been the presence she felt, and she found
herself relaxing. “What are you doing here?”
“I was on patrol and driving down Main Street when I saw you struggling to get into your vehicle.
I figured I should come over and offer you some help.” He reached out and took the keys from her
hand. “Here, let me try to open it. With it being a rental, sometimes it’s hard to navigate all the
different features.”
He clicked a couple of buttons, pointed it at the car and the locks miraculously opened. He
opened the car door and gestured for her to climb inside, then handed her the keys back. “You drive
home safe now.”
“Of course,” she promised him. “Thanks for helping me out. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem,” he told her with a friendly grin.
As Audree drove home, she couldn’t help but wonder why Cory kept coming back into her mind.
She’d done everything she could to forget about him, because if she let him continue to fill her with
anxiety and fear after she worked so hard to rebuild her life, then he’d be the winner. She refused to
let him have that, too. No, she wasn’t going to let him take anything else from her, no matter what it
took to keep it from happening.
 Chapter Seven

Noah was running late for church. When he got off his shift, he barely had enough time to go home and
change before he needed to meet his family for the morning service. As he tried to shuffle past the
welcome center in the foyer, Birdie Jackson waved him over with a knowing smile. “Good morning,
Noah. I just want to check in on you and see how everything is going with our newest high school
teacher, Audree.”
“Going? What are you talking about, Ms. Jackson?”
“Oh now, don’t play coy with me. I know there is something going on between the two of you. Try
as you might, you won’t be able to keep it a secret from me forever.”
“There’s nothing to keep secret, honestly,” Noah insisted. “We’ve had a couple of run-ins, and
she’s a nice enough woman when she isn’t biting my head off—”
“And pretty, don’t forget how pretty she is,” Birdie pointed out, even though he didn’t need her to.
Noah was fully aware of how gorgeous Audree was. Every time he saw her, it was hard not to
stare at her and wonder what it would be like to kiss her pouty pink lips. The problem was, he was
already invested in his online relationship with Apple99, and she had the personality of the girl he
always dreamed of. She wasn’t contrary, and she actually seemed to like him, unlike Audree. This is
why he couldn’t believe it when he put her off the other day when she wanted to meet up. He had
regretted it ever since and hoped his lack of confidence hadn’t cost him his chance at pursuing her.
“I’m not arguing that she isn’t attractive, but I have way too many other things going on to be
thinking about her like that. Besides, she doesn’t even like me, so it’s a moot point.”
“I don’t know about that.” Birdie’s brows grew together as her face tightened in doubt. “I see the
way she looks at you when she thinks no one is paying attention. I think she likes you but she’s too
afraid to show it.”
Frustrated that the older woman wouldn’t drop the subject, he let out a heavy sigh and ran his
hand through his hair. “Look, Birdie, I get that your heart is in the right place, but you need to let this
go. I’m starting to think I’m doomed to be single for the rest of my life. I have the worst track record
when it comes to dating, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.”
“There’s no pot too crooked that a lid won’t fit,” Birdie added as a final pearl of wisdom.
“Maybe you’re just too picky about your pot.”
A new mom with a baby in her arms came up to Birdie and started talking to her about the
Mommy and Me group the church held on Saturday mornings. This gave Noah the perfect chance to
slip away. He made his way into the sanctuary and found his family in the second row behind his
Uncle Cletus’ and Uncle Dustin’s families.
“There you are, little brother. I almost didn’t think you were going to make it,” Clayton said as he
patted a spot next to him. Reluctantly, Noah went over and sat down next to him. “Did you see your
new girlfriend was here today?”
“What are you talking about? I don’t have a girlfriend,” Noah objected, though part of him knew
this was just another way for Clayton to harass him.
“Oh really, are you trying to tell me that you aren’t at all attracted to Audree Hall?” Clayton
persisted with a knowing grin. “I mean, she is as pretty as a peach,” Clayton said with a low whistle.
“I almost can’t fault you for getting all confounded when she’s around.”
Noah knew he didn’t have a right to, but he could feel himself getting irritated over his brother’s
attraction to Audree. He had no claim to her, but he could feel the jealousy rise in him, and he had no
idea what to do about it.
To Noah’s relief, he didn’t have to endure Clayton’s calculated verbal assault a moment longer.
The worship team took to the stage and started playing, encouraging the parishioners to stand to their
feet and sing along. The music lasted about fifteen minutes, before Pastor Gary Robertson, an older
man with black hair and brown eyes, walked to the center of the stage and took his spot behind the
wooden pulpit.
“Welcome everyone to Faith Valley Church. I’m so glad you decided to join us today,” he greeted.
“I know sometimes life is unfair. For instance, when you get fired from your job for drawing attention
to a problem, or you were skipped over for a promotion because your co-worker is friends with the
boss. As a child, you were cut from a team because your parents didn’t have the right connections, or
you didn’t get the invitation to the birthday party like all the other kids in your class. Other times, you
were hurt by a family member through abuse, or your father favored one sibling over you. Some of
you were spoken of negatively behind your back, or you were betrayed by someone you trusted. What
all of these things have in common is that when left to fester, the pain from the unfair incident
becomes the root of bitterness. The deeper the root grows, the more it takes over our lives and
dominates us.
“I remember hearing the story of an extremely bitter woman. She was bitten by a rabid dog. Tests
were run and the doctor told her she had rabies. She then went on to write down a list of names in a
notebook. The doctor asked if she was making a will and she replied, ‘No, I’m making a list of all the
people I’m going to bite.’ Do you have a list of names? Is there someone at the top of it?”
Noah realized that God was talking directly to him through Pastor Gary. He’d been holding on to
the bitterness over how his family had been treating him, but all it was doing was eating at him. As he
continued to listen to the pastor, the confirmation only grew deeper.
“When we respond improperly to hurt, we become bitter. That hurt can come from what someone
says to you, does to you, or takes away from you. The problem is, holding onto bitterness doesn’t hurt
the person who hurt you, just the opposite. You become consumed by it and it permeates every part of
your life. What we fail to realize is that bitterness is self-defeating; we’re drinking our own poison
and waiting for the other person to die.
In Ephesians, Paul tells us to get rid of all our bitterness, but how do we do that when we suffer
because of human failure? We are called to be kind and tenderhearted, but how do we manage that
when unfair things happen to us? Forgiveness, it is the remedy to bitterness. If we forgive, just like
God did us through Jesus on the cross, we can rid ourselves of bitterness. So, if any of you are
harboring bitterness today, I call you to end your grudge today and release your bitterness.”
Noah acknowledged that he needed to let go and give his bitterness to God. Pastor Gary was
right, it only shackled him to an emotional place he didn’t want to be. As the pastor prayed for the
congregation, Noah prayed along and agreed. By the time the service was over, he felt like a burden
had been lifted from his heart.
As he was heading from the bathroom back into the foyer, he bumped into Audree. His eyes met
hers, equally round from the surprise encounter.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get in your way,” she muttered as she tried to go around him.
“It’s all right. I was surprised to find out you were here today.”
“Why? You think you own the church, too?” she asked with resentment. “I can come here just like
anyone else. Sorry if it makes you uncomfortable.”
“I never said it did,” he quickly defended. “I’m glad you decided to come. Faith Valley Church is
great, and everyone is welcome.”
“Even the woman you wrongfully arrested?”
“Especially the woman I wrongfully arrested. I really want us to put that behind us once and for
all,” he pleaded. “Can we start over?”
Audree let out a heavy sigh as she brushed her blonde hair behind her ears. “Look, I know we
should try to get along since we live in the same small town, it’s just hard to let it go.”
“Isn’t that what the sermon was about today?” he gently probed.
“You’re right, and I’ll work on it,” she promised. “I have to say, it’s refreshing being in a live
service. Ever since I moved here, I’ve been watching my old church online.”
“Haven’t you been living in Faith Valley for a couple of months now?”
She nodded. “I’ve had a harder time adjusting here than I first anticipated. I’m working on that,
too.”
“Maybe we can help with that,” Noah’s cousin-in-law, Nicole Sutton West, said as she came over
with her best friend, Cindy Davenport, by her side. “Why don’t you come to our women’s Bible study
group on Wednesday night?”
“Yes, do come,” Cindy chirped in with a friendly smile. “It would be nice to have some fresh
perspectives in the group.” Then looking over at Nicole, she quickly added, “Not that I don’t value
your opinion, Nicole.”
Nicole laughed and shrugged. “I know what you meant. No worries.”
“I don’t know; I’m not sure I can make it. Sometimes I’m pretty busy with play practice on
Wednesdays, especially right now with the fall play coming up.”
Noah noticed that Audree seemed to be dismissing Nicole’s invite, and though she said she
wanted to make friends, it seemed like she was avoiding it at the same time. “Isn’t the play going to
be over in a week? Why don’t you go after that?” Noah pressed, wanting Audree to fit in, though he
wasn’t sure why it mattered to him so much.
“I guess that could work,” Audree agreed reluctantly.
“Good, and now that we have that settled, we need to talk about you, Noah. You need to come
over and have dinner with us sometime soon,” Nicole offered as she reached over and hugged her
cousin-in-law.
“Thanks for the offer, Nicole, but between work and church, I don’t have much free time.”
“Are you sure? You’ve got to have a couple of days off now and then,” Audree challenged, and
Noah realized that she was paying him back for getting involved in her social life.
“She’s right; I’m not leaving until you agree to come over,” Nicole insisted.
“Yes, do come, and bring your new girlfriend,” his cousin, Ethan said as he joined the group and
gestured to Audree.
 “Who, me?” she gulped out as her eyes widened with embarrassment.
“Who else would I be talking about, but the woman he’s been seen around town with lately,”
Ethan explained further.
“That was one time at the coffee shop, and we didn’t go there together. We ran into each other,”
Noah quickly excused.
“I get it if you want to keep it private and don’t want to openly label it too soon. I have to say,
though, I’m glad you finally picked a good one, Noah. My sister, Macy, has nothing but great things to
say about you, Miss Hall.”
Audree’s face tinged pink a second time. “I appreciate that, and your sister, Dr. West, but I’m not
dating your cousin.”
“Not surprising, since my dunce of a brother decided not only to wrongfully arrest her, but pull
her over for speeding the next day as an added bonus,” Clayton jested as he came up and slung his
arms around both Noah and Ethan.
This time, it was Noah’s face that turned red. He wanted to blow up at his brother and tell him to
shut his mouth, but he knew it would only make things worse for all of them. Apparently, Audree had
had enough. She spun around on her heel and took off.
“Nice going, jerk,” Noah snapped at his brother. “Why do you always have to act like that?”
“He’s right, Clayton. You really do need to learn how to treat people better,” Nicole added as she
wrapped her arm around her husband’s and yanked him away. “You were awful to me when you found
out about how I ended up with your cousin.”
“Pardon me for thinking it weird that you guys ended up together because of the ‘fake marriage’
agreement you made.”
“Our relationship and how it started is our business,” Ethan stated firmly. “You should really
learn what lines not to cross.”
Noah didn’t have time to listen to any of his family’s drama a moment longer. He needed to find
Audree and apologize for how they behaved. Without saying another word, he headed in the direction
she went. Just as he entered the foyer, he saw Audree heading out the exit. He sped up, dodging other
churchgoers as best as he could.
“Watch where you’re going, Noah,” he heard Rebecca call out after him. “You can call me if you
want.”
He ignored the debutante’s open invitation to spend time together. He’d been there and dated
enough of those to last him a lifetime. He wanted something new and better.
He lifted his hand over his brow to block out the midday sun and scanned the area. In the distance,
he could see Audree fumbling with her keys from across the parking lot, an apparent habit of hers. If
he hurried, he could reach her before she was able to take off. He couldn’t let her leave without
making sure she was all right.
Noah sprinted over and arrived to help her, but when he reached out to grab her shoulder, he
could feel her trembling under his touch. A rush of guilt washed over him, knowing that his family
upset her so badly. It only lasted a second before Audree cried out in fright and swiftly turned around
with a terrified look in her eyes.
What Noah didn’t expect was her right hand balled up into a fist and swinging right at him. The
next thing he knew, a sharp jolt of pain radiated through his face, and he began to see spots. His ears
popped and his eyes watered from the hard punch that landed squarely on his nose. Before he could
help it, he was stumbling forward, and his head hit the top of her car.
 Chapter Eight

Audree couldn’t believe she just punched Noah West in the face. She’d just received a heavy-
breathing call, and her nerves were on high alert.
“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” she asked with concern, reaching up and gently touching his nose
that was already swelling and turning purple.
“Not sure, it’s possible you might have broken it,” he said in a nasal tone, making her feel even
worse.
Blood started to trickle from it, and she quickly opened her purse, sifting through the contents to
find a package of tissues. She pulled one out and handed it to him. “We need to put some ice on that
before it swells even more.” She glanced around and noticed the diner across the street. “Why don’t
we go get some over at Joe’s?”
She reached over and placed her hand on his arm. Instantly, she felt a surge of electricity from
where her hand touched his skin. She tried to ignore it as she guided him across the street as he tilted
his head back and held the tissue to his nose.
They entered the eating establishment where Sue Ellen, one of Audree’s students, was standing at
the hosting stand. Her parents owned the diner, and she worked there on the weekends. “Good
afternoon, Miss Hall. You want your usual table in the back?”
Audree nodded. “Can you also get us a pack of ice for Officer West’s nose?”
“Oh my, what happened? Did you finally punch him for wrongfully arresting you?” Sue Ellen
asked as she escorted them over to the table that was almost out of view of the public.
“No, it was an accident,” Audree explained as she helped Noah into a seat and then pulled one up
beside him. Then gesturing to the kitchen, she added, “The ice, Sue Ellen.”
“Oh right, I’ll get that straight away, Miss Hall.” She turned around and hurried off, causing her
black ponytail to swish back and forth across her back as she disappeared through the swinging
double doors.
“Wow, your nose is swelling up something fierce. I sure hope it’s not broken.”
“If it is, I happen to have several family members in the medical field, including a couple of
doctors,” he teased.
“That’s true, so I guess if you need an x-ray, you know where to go.”
“My uncle is the head of the hospital, so yeah, I think I’m covered if it comes to that. I really hope
it doesn’t, though, because I hate hospitals.”
“That’s unusual coming from a family of first responders,” Audree observed. She figured it was
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Large shirts or tobes, ready made, of striped cottons, and
white calico.
Coarse white calico. ⎱
much esteemed.
Fine do. do. ⎰

Frankincense,
⎫
purchased of the Jews in Tripoli, or
Ottaria, ⎬
Leghorn.
⎭
Spices,
The beads most in demand, indeed the only ones that they will
purchase, are:—
H’raz-el mekka, white glass beads, with a flower.
Merjan tiddoo, mock coral.
Quamur, white sand beads.
Quamar m’zein, small black beads, with yellow stripes.
H’raz-el pimmel, ant’s head bead, with black stripes.
Contembali, red and white.
Hazam el bashaw, the bashaw’s sash.
Sbgha m’kerbub, red pebble, from Trieste.
Sbgha toweel, long bead.
H’shem battura, Arab’s nose, a large red bead.
Arms of all descriptions, of an inferior quality, will always meet
with a ready sale, as well as balls of lead, and what we call
swan-shot.
 JOURNAL

OF

AN EXCURSION,
ETC. ETC.
 PREFATORY NOTICE
TO THE

Narrative of Captain Clapperton’s Journey from Kouka to Sackatoo.

The Manuscript of the following Journal was placed in my hands by Captain

Clapperton, on his departure from England, with a request that I would see it
through the press, whenever the account of the recent mission to Central Africa
should be published. In complying with this request, I have carefully abstained
from altering a sentiment, or even an expression, and rarely had occasion to add,
omit, or change, a single word; so that my easy task has been confined to the
mere ordinary correction of the press.
Captain Clapperton, like Major Denham, as will appear from his Journal, makes
no pretensions to the systematic knowledge of natural history. They were both
excellent pioneers of discovery, and capable of ascertaining the latitude by
observations of the heavenly bodies; and also to compute, to a certain degree of
accuracy, the longitudes of the various places which they visited: and even this is
no trifling advantage to geography, though it has but too commonly been neglected
by travellers. By a strict attention to these points, by comparing them with the
courses and distances travelled, and by Captain Clapperton’s frequent endeavours
to verify the estimated results by lunar observations (though not much to be
depended on by one observer, on shore), we may now be pretty well assured of
the actual and relative positions of many places, which have hitherto been wholly
dislocated and scattered at random on our best maps of Africa,—all of them bad
enough,—and the situation of cities and towns have also been ascertained, whose
names even had never before reached us.
The only traveller of the party, who was supposed to possess a competent
knowledge of natural history, was Doctor Oudney; and he was unfortunately
disabled from the pursuit of it by a protracted illness, which terminated in death. As
so little appears in the present volume from the pen of Doctor Oudney, and as
Captain Clapperton has stated (page 5) a wish expressed by that gentleman, a
short time previous to his death, that “his papers should be put into the hands of
Mr. Barrow, or Professor Jameson, provided the request meets with Earl Bathurst’s
approbation,” I feel it necessary to say a few words on this subject. Nothing could
have been more gratifying to me than to have undertaken and executed, to the
best of my power, such a task: it is quite natural that I should have willingly done
so, were it for no other reason than my having been instrumental in his
appointment, from the strongest testimonials in his favour which I had received
from Professor Jameson, whose acquirements in natural history stand so
deservedly high in public estimation, as to entitle any recommendation from him to
immediate attention. Unfortunately, however, for this branch of science, Doctor
Oudney, at a very early stage of their journey, caught a severe cold, which fell on
his lungs, and which rendered him, on their arrival in Bornou, nearly incapable of
any exertion. It will be seen from Major Denham’s Narrative, how frequently and
how seriously, not to say alarmingly, ill, he became from the first moment of their
arrival in Bornou. In a letter addressed to Mr. Wilmot Horton, of the date of the 12th
September, 1823, Doctor Oudney says, “I send you a simple itinerary from Fezzan
here; that to the river Shary, and the borders of Soudan, and my remarks on
Bornou, I must leave till another time. I cannot write long; one day’s labour in that
way makes me ill for a week.”
No account of these journeys to the river Shary, and the borders of Soudan,
appear among his papers; nor any materials respecting them, beyond what are
contained in a very general account of the proceedings of the Mission, in an official
letter addressed to the Secretary of State. The papers, delivered to me by Captain
Clapperton, consisted of an account of an excursion, jointly performed by these
gentlemen, from Mourzuk to Ghraat, the first town in the Tuarick country:—some
remarks on the journey across the Great Desert, which appear not to have been
written out fair:—and the rest, of mere scraps of vocabularies, rude sketches of the
human face, detached and incomplete registers of the state of the temperature,
and a number of letters to and from the Consul at Tripoli, respecting the pecuniary
and other affairs of the mission, wholly uninteresting, and of which no use
whatever could be made.
The Journey to Ghraat above mentioned, I have caused to be printed at the
end of the Introductory Chapter, with which it appears to be partly connected,
omitting some trifling details, of no interest whatever; and I requested Major
Denham to add a few foot-notes, chiefly geological, to his own Journal across the
Great Desert. It seems to have been well known to the party that Doctor Oudney
could not possibly survive the journey into Soudan; and, indeed, he was well
aware of it himself; but his zeal to accomplish all that could be done, would not
suffer him to remain behind. It was that zeal which led him to undertake the
journey to Ghraat, which not a little increased his disorder; for, to say the truth, he
evidently was labouring, while in England, under a pectoral complaint; but when I
told him so, and strongly advised him not to think of proceeding (as I had before
done to his unfortunate predecessor Ritchie), he, like the latter, persisted that,
being a medical man, he best knew his own constitution, and that a warm climate
would best agree with it. Neither of them, however, seem to have calculated on the
degree of fatigue, and the sudden changes of temperature, to which they were
necessarily to be exposed.
 With every disadvantage of collecting, preserving, and bringing home from so
great a distance, and over so dreary a desert of twelve hundred miles, specimens
of natural history, it will be seen, by reference to the Appendix, that this department
of science has not been neglected.
JOHN BARROW.
 JOURNAL

OF

AN EXCURSION,
ETC. ETC.
 SECTION I.
FROM KOUKA TO MURMUR, WHERE DR. OUDNEY DIED.

From our first arrival in Bornou, we intended to avail ourselves of

the earliest opportunity of exploring Soudan. Our preparations being
at length completed, and the sheikh having consented to our
departure, although with some degree of reluctance, Dr. Oudney,
notwithstanding the infirm state of his health, and myself, were ready
to set out on the 14th December, 1823. Accordingly we sent off our
camels and servants in the morning, and went in person to take
leave of the sheikh. On this occasion we found him in an inner
apartment, attended by two or three servants only. He asked us, as
he had often done before, if, in the course of our travels, we
proposed going to Nyffee. We answered, yes, if the road was open.
He replied, it was a great distance; and he feared we were not likely
to return to Kouka. We told him we hoped to return, if possible,
before the rains set in; but however that might be, we assured him
we should ever retain a grateful sense of his exceeding great
kindness towards us. He bade us farewell in the most affectionate
manner. About noon we left the town, accompanied by our comrade,
Major Denham, and most of the principal inhabitants. Even Hadje Ali
Boo Khaloom, with whom we had frequent occasion to be
dissatisfied, joined the train: they attended us to the distance of four
or five miles, and then took leave; our friend, the cadi Hadje
Mohamed Zy Abedeen, having first repeated the Fatha, or first
chapter of the Koran. We halted at the village of Fuguboo Thorio,
where our servants had pitched our tents, being distant from Kouka
about ten miles.
Our party consisted of Dr. Oudney and myself, two servants,
Jacob the Jew, a sort of major domo, and three men of Fezzan. We
had three saddle horses, and four sumpter camels; the servants,
except Jacob, were on foot. There were also in the kafila (commonly
pronounced goffle) twenty-seven Arab merchants, two of whom were
shreefs, or descendants of the Prophet, one from Tunis, the other
from Houn, near Sockna, and about fifty natives of Bornou. The
Arabs were mostly mounted on horses, which they intended for sale;
some having besides a led horse. The Bornouese were on foot; one
of them, a hadje or Mahometan pilgrim, who had visited Mecca,
would on no account stay behind at Kouka, but persisted in
accompanying us, for the express purpose of having his hand
regularly dressed by Dr. Oudney: he had been wounded by the
accidental bursting of a gun; he invariably pitched his tent close to
that of the Doctor, whom he always regarded with the utmost
respect.
Dec. 15.—We started at seven o’clock. The road was the same
we had travelled on a former visit to Old Birnee. We were no longer
annoyed with the noise and confusion in pitching the tents, or with
the clamours of obstreperous camel drivers; which we had formerly
experienced when under the guidance of Boo Khaloom. The weather
too was clear, cool, and pleasant. A little after mid-day we halted at
the wells of Budjoo; distance, north-west by north, seventeen miles.
Dec. 16.—We met several kafilas from Gubsharee and the
surrounding country, going to Kouka. Their heavy goods were
carried on bullocks; the smaller packages, weighing from twenty to
thirty pounds, were borne on men’s heads. The bearers poise their
burdens with much dexterity and ease to themselves, by cords
hanging from the sides of the packages, which are carried
lengthwise on the head; by this simple contrivance they avoid the
fatiguing posture of keeping the arm raised. We halted about three
o’clock in the afternoon.
We still pursued the Old Birnee road: we saw several of the large
red and white antelopes, called by the Arabs mohur. We encamped
on the margin of one of the lakes, formed by the overflowing of the
Yow; the river was only about a quarter of a mile distant from us, to
the north. It had now fallen fully six feet, and its current might be
about three miles an hour.
Dec. 18.—We travelled along the banks of a chain of small lakes
formed by the Yow, once, perhaps, its original channel. I observed,
by the roadside, the tracks of various wild animals,—among others
of the hippopotamus and lion. We passed one of the country fairs,
held on a small hill, near the ruins of a large town which had been
destroyed by the Felatahs. We halted at Damasak, near an
encampment of the sheikh’s cowherds; who, on hearing that we
were in the kafila, brought us an abundant supply of milk.
Dec. 19.—As the low grounds from Damasak to Mugabee, about
ten miles distant, were inundated, we were obliged to make a long
circuit by an upper road, frequently wading across hollows filled with
water. At noon we had to halt on the banks of one of those
temporary rivers which are formed during the wet season: it still
contained a considerable body of water, which was running at the
rate of about two miles an hour. We met here several kafilas of
loaded bullocks, on their way from Gubsharee and Soudan. The
people were busily floating their goods over the river on rafts, made
of bundles of reeds; but there being too few in number to transport
our baggage, it was necessary to make new rafts for ourselves. We
therefore pitched our tents; and one man was sent by each of the
Arab merchants to cut long reeds, which are readily made into rafts,
by lashing bundles of them across two long poles.
I proceeded two or three miles up the banks of the river, which
last summer did not contain a drop of water. The lower road certainly
exhibited the appearance of being overflowed during the rains; but
nobody, from merely seeing it in that state, could suppose that for
nearly one half of the year it is a broad sheet of water, or that the
upper road itself is traversed, for the same period, by several large
streams falling into the Yow. The ferry-dues, paid to the people who
swim over with the rafts, are a rotal for every camel load of goods:
the rotal is now merely nominal, and represents a pound of copper,
eight or ten of which are equivalent to a Spanish dollar. The bullocks,
horses, and camels, are made to swim over, together with the negro
slaves.
Dec. 20.—Hitherto the atmosphere had been clear and serene,
but to-day it became hazy, and was particularly cold about day-
break. Hadje Ali, the invalid alluded to, having a very large raft, we
ferried over our baggage upon it without the smallest accident, by
means of a rope fastened to each end. It was far otherwise with the
Arabs a little lower down the river; there was nothing but hubbub and
bustle among them: many, through ignorance or obstinacy, had their
goods much damaged. The greatest difficulty was with the camels
and female slaves; the women screamed and squalled with great
vehemence; several of the men seemed almost in as great a panic
as the ladies, especially those of Fezzan, none of whom could swim;
and some of them jumped off the raft into the water three or four
times, before they could muster courage to cross. The camels
occasioned a great deal of trouble, one man having to swim before
with the halter in his teeth, while another kept beating the animal
behind with a stick, which every now and then attempted to turn
back, or bobbed its head under water. Before all had crossed, it was
too late to continue our journey that day; we therefore encamped on
the west bank for the night.
Dec. 21.—We still travelled along the upper grounds, on account
of the extent of the inundation. Yet the earth itself was so dry, that we
were put in some slight danger by a kafila, near Old Birnee,
carelessly setting the grass on fire in the course of the night: the fire
advanced rapidly, like a sea of flame, and must have put us all to
flight had we not had the good fortune to obtain shelter within the
ruined walls of the city, which checked a little the progress of the
conflagration. We did not halt, however, but continued our route to a
town called Bera, on the banks of a beautiful lake, likewise formed
by the overflowing of the Yow. Immediately there was quite a fair in
our camp, the townswomen coming with gussule or Guinea corn,
bean straw, cashew nuts, and milk; which they offered in exchange
for glass beads and gubga, or native cloth. The beads in greatest
request are pretty large, of a chocolate colour, with a small spiral
white ring round the middle, and are called by the natives
conteembalee, or Muckni; the latter appellation is derived from a
sultan of Fezzan of that name, who was originally a merchant, and
first brought these beads into fashion. A single bead exchanged for a
quart of Guinea corn. The gubga is narrow cotton cloth, of native
manufacture, about a palm in width; forty fathoms of which are
usually valued at a dollar. The value of commodities in barter seems
to be maintained with a certain stability, somewhat like the money
rate of exchange in Europe, by fixing a local standard price for those
articles in greatest demand, in lieu of the fictitious par of exchange,
which, with us, powerfully influences and indirectly regulates all
money transactions.
Dec. 22.—We crossed over a neck of land formed by a bend of
the river to a town called Dugamoo, where we halted. The banks of
the river are every where studded with towns and villages.
Dec. 23.—The morning was cold. Dr. Oudney had been very
unwell during the night, and felt himself extremely weak. At eight
o’clock we left Dugamoo, and, following a winding path, nearly due
west, we reached Deltago, having passed a number of towns and
villages, one of which, called Kukabonee, was of considerable size,
and contained perhaps 5000 or 6000 inhabitants. The country to the
west of Old Birnee rises in gentle undulations of hill and dale. There
are very few trees, except on the banks of the Yow. The soil is chiefly
a red clay. The inhabitants raise great quantities of Guinea corn, and
beans something like calavances. We had a very plentiful market.
The people here preferred coral, and the beads called
conteembalee, in exchange for grain, &c. to native cloth. Gunpowder
was much sought after as a medicine. To-day we gave a sheep as a
boozafer or gift, by way of footing, which all pay who travel this way
for the first time; a practice akin to our usage on doubling capes, or
crossing the tropics and line. Cotton seed bruised is very much used
for feeding sheep, bullocks, asses, and camels. These animals soon
become extremely fond of it: it is an excellent food for fattening them.
In the evening gussule was sent for our horses and camels, as had
been done in the other towns: we passed as soon as the people
learned we were the friends of the sheikh.
Dec. 24.—Dr. Oudney felt himself much better. We halted to-day,
on account of one of the merchants’ camels falling lame; the owner
was obliged to send to Dugamor to buy another. The kafila kept a
grand boozafer day, and all merchant new-comers paid a dollar
apiece, or gave its value in goods.—Time is to these people of no
importance: whatever accidental occurrence takes place to detain
them, they bear the delay with perfect indifference.
Dec. 25.—The weather clear and cool. We left Deltago, and,
winding along the banks of the river, or occasionally cutting off a
bend by a cross path, we reached Bedeekarfee. There is more wood
here than we had yet seen, and the soil is still a strong red clay.
Villages and towns are numerous; the inhabitants principally belong
to the Alluanee tribe of Shouah Arabs. The town of Bedeekarfee is
large and populous. The governor, commonly called in this and other
African towns Sultan, although holding a subordinate command, had
seen us when we were on the expedition to Munga with the sheikh of
Bornou. On our arrival he came out to meet us, and gave us a very
cordial reception. He was an elderly man, much afflicted with a
urinary disorder, for which he consulted Dr. Oudney. His dwelling,
large, extremely clean, and constructed after the manner of the
country, consisted of a spacious quadrangular enclosure,
surrounded with mats fixed to high poles, within which were several
small round huts, also of matting, with thatched conical roofs, each
surmounted by an ostrich egg. In outward appearance, these huts
somewhat resemble our bee-hives. Their walls are frequently made
of clay. The ostrich egg is a distinctive mark of the occupant being a
man of rank. The floor inside is covered with sand; and the only
furniture is a bench to supply the place of a bedstead, and a few
mats for squatting upon, besides some carved or coloured gourds
and wide-mouthed earthen jars, piled above one another, and
intended to combine ornament with utility. There is but one opening
or door-way, which is round at the top, and closed by a wicket. The
door always faces to the west, on account of the prevailing rains
coming from the opposite quarter. The grand entrance of the
enclosure is often a hut erected at the western side of the square,
with an open thoroughfare, where a black slave officiates as porter.
Each separate hut is called a coozee.
The Arab women of this place are really beautiful; they wear their
hair differently from their countrywomen elsewhere: the fashion of it
is such, that at a distance it might be mistaken for a helmet,—a large
braid on the crown having some semblance to a crest, and the side
tresses being neatly plaited and frizzled out at the ends. There are
also many women of Bornou among them, who imitate the same
style.
 Guinea fowls abound in this part of the country: I went out after
we halted, and shot five of them, besides a wild duck and a quail.
Mohamoud El Wordee, one of two Fezzanee merchants, to whom
we were particularly recommended by the sheikh of Bornou, and
who had always appeared to me to be a man of strong natural
sense, was thrown into a sad fright by losing a charm or amulet off
his horse’s neck, with a number of which almost all are equipped.
This charm is nothing more than a short sentence from the Koran.
Had he lost an only child he could scarcely have been more afflicted.
I gave him a scrap of paper to make another, which Hadje promised
to write out for him.
Dec. 26.—This morning after sunrise, Fahrenheit’s thermometer
stood at 49°. The merchants were busily employed firing off their
guns and putting them in order for the Bedites, an ancient race of
native Bornouese, who have not embraced Islamism, and who
occupy an adjoining territory, chiefly protected by its natural
fastnesses. They are held both in dread and abhorrence by all the
faithful. Every thing being ready at eleven o’clock, we broke up our
encampment. Our kafila was now of an immense size. We had been
joined at Bedeekarfee by 500 people at least, who were waiting
there for an Arab kafila to pass through the Bedee country; for all
Arabs are esteemed by the natives here extremely formidable, as
well from the possession of fire arms, as from their national
intrepidity. Their muskets, however, in comparison of those of
Europe, are of the meanest quality; and so uncertain in their fire, that
they are hardly worth more than their weight as old iron. The
courage, too, of most of these Arabs is very questionable. When
successful they are overbearing and cruel in the extreme, and in bad
fortune are in like degree servile and abject.
The natives of Haussa carry their merchandise on the head, and
go armed with bows and arrows. Those of Bornou convey their
goods chiefly on asses and bullocks, and are armed with spears.
The Haussa merchants deal in tobacco, Goora nuts, Koghelor or
crude antimony, cotton cloth in the web, or made into dresses called
tobes and turkadees, and tanned goat skins. Goora nuts are the
produce of Ashantee and other parts near the west, and are chewed
by all people of consequence, on account of their agreeable bitter
taste, not unlike that of strong coffee, and the supposed virtue of
curing impotency. They are even in great esteem as far as Fezzan
and Tripoli, where they bring the exorbitant price of two dollars a
score. Crude antimony in powder is applied by both sexes to the
eye-lashes, to render them dark and glossy. Native cloth, or gubga,
as before mentioned, is extremely narrow, seldom more than four
inches in width. The tobe is a large shirt with loose hanging sleeves
like a waggoner’s frock, generally of a dark blue colour, and is an
indispensable part of male attire throughout central Africa. The
turkadees are articles of female dress, commonly of blue cotton
cloth, about three yards and a half long and one broad. Sometimes
they are made of alternate stripes of blue and white (of the breadth
of African cloth), or are all white, according to fancy. Women of better
circumstances commonly wear two turkadees, one round the waist,
and another thrown over the shoulders. These articles are bartered
in Bornou for trona or natron, common salt and beads; which,
together with coarse tobes, are also carried by Bornouese
adventurers to Haussa. Our road lay over an elevated clayey plain,
with low trees, most of them mimosas. We passed the ruins of
several towns, and such of our travelling companions as were best
acquainted with the country informed us it was well peopled before
the Felatah invasion. At sunset we halted, being already in the
Bedee country.
Dec. 27.—The temperature this morning was remarkably low, and
the water in our shallow vessels was crusted with thin flakes of ice.
The water skins themselves were frozen as hard as a board[65].
These water skins, by the way, are goat skins, well tanned and
seasoned, stripped from the carcass over the animal’s head. They
are extremely convenient on a tedious journey over arid wastes and
deserts. The horses and camels stood shivering with cold, and
appeared to suffer much more than ourselves. The wind during the
night was, as usual, from the north, and north-north-west. Dr.
Oudney was extremely ill, having become much worse from catching
a severe cold. We now travelled south-south-west, over a country of
much the same kind of soil as that above described. As we
approached the low grounds it was better wooded, and the trees
were of greater size and variety. Of these, the most remarkable were
the kuka and the goorjee.
The kuka is of immense size, erect and majestic; sometimes
measuring from twenty to twenty-five feet in circumference. The
trunk and branches taper off to a point, and are incrusted with a soft,
glossy, copper-coloured rind, not unlike a gummy exudation. The
porous spongy trunk is straight, but the branches are twisted and
tortuous. The leaves are small, somewhat like the young ash, but
more pulpy, and growing in clusters from the extremities of the lesser
twigs. The tree is in full leaf and blossom during the rainy months of
June, July, and August. The flowers are white, large, and pendulous,
somewhat resembling the white garden lily. The fruit hangs by a long
stalk, and is of an oval shape, generally larger than a cocoa nut, with
a hard shell full of a powdery matter, intermixed with reddish strings
and tamarind-like seeds. In its unripe state it is of a beautiful velvety
dark green colour, and becomes brown as it approaches maturity.
The tree, whether bare of its leaves, in flower, or in full bearing, has
a singularly grotesque naked appearance; and, with its fruit dangling
from the boughs like silken purses, might, in the imagination of some
Eastern story-teller, well embellish an enchanted garden of the
Genius of the Lamp. The leaves are carefully gathered by the
natives, dried in the sun, and used for many culinary purposes.
Boiled in water they form a kind of clammy jelly, giving a gelatinous
consistence to the sauces and gravies in most common use. I have
also eaten them boiled with dried meat, according to the custom of
the country, but did not much relish such fare. Both leaves and fruit
are considered, to a certain degree, medicinal. The leaves, mixed
with trona and gussub, are given to horses and camels, both for the
purpose of fattening these animals, and as a cooling aperient: they
are administered to the former in balls, and to the latter as a drench.
The white mealy part of the fruit is very pleasant to the taste, and
forms, with water, an agreeable acidulous beverage; which the
natives, whose libidinous propensities incline them to such remarks,
allege to possess the virtue of relieving impotency.
 The goorjee tree much resembles a stunted oak, with a beautiful
dark red flower, when in full blow rather like a tulip. The natives make
use of the flower to assist in giving a red tinge to the mouth and
teeth, as well as in seasoning their food. These two trees are
generally found on a strong clayey soil, and are peculiar to Haussa
and the western parts of Bornou.
At noon, we came in sight of a lake called Tumbum, apparently
formed by some river in the rainy season. All the country to the
southward and westward, as far as the eye could reach, was a
dismal swamp. Just as we arrived within a short distance of the lake,
—at the very spot in which of all others the Arabs said we were most
likely to encounter the Bedites,—two men made their appearance.
They were dressed in the Bornouese costume; a loose tobe and
drawers, with a tight cap, all of blue cotton cloth. Each carried on his
shoulder a bundle of light spears, headed with iron. I was a little way
in front of our party, and first met them; they saluted me very civilly,
and I passed on without further notice, when the other horsemen
meeting them, and putting some questions, which the strangers did
not answer to their satisfaction, immediately seized, stripped, and
bound them. Considering it a matter in which I had no authority to
interfere, I merely requested that their drawers might be returned to
them, remarking, it was better not to treat them ill, as they might
prove to be honest men. “Oh! d——n their fathers,” (the strongest
imprecation in Africa), replied the captors, “they are thieves; what
would they be doing here if they were honest men?” I still urged the
propriety of taking them to Bedeguna, at least, to afford them a
chance of being recognised by the townspeople, before treating
them as robbers. I now rode off to water my horse; when I returned, I
found the magnanimous El Wordee guarding the two unfortunate
wretches, one of whom was a Shouah Arab, and the other a Negro.
The latter, while I was absent, had received a dreadful cut under the
left ear from a Bornouese, who pretended that the Negro had
attempted to escape; an attempt little likely in his desperate situation.
Notwithstanding the wound, they were leading the poor fellow by a
rope fastened round his neck. He was covered with blood, and Dr.
Oudney assured me, if the wound had been a little lower down it
must have caused instant death. I could not refrain from beating the
merciless Bornouese; and I obliged him to use his own tobe in
binding up the wound, at the same time threatening to lodge the
contents of my gun in his head, if he repeated his cruelty. The
occasion prompted me to impress on the minds of the Arabs
generally how unworthy it was of brave men to behave with cruelty to
their prisoners, and to suggest, that it would be far better to sell
them, or even to put them to death, than wantonly to inflict such
barbarities. The Arabs threw the blame on the Bornouese, and
although evidently exulting in secret over their captives, they were
fairly shamed into good behaviour, and promised to liberate the men
if innocent, or, if guilty, to surrender them to justice at Bedeguna.
Our road skirted the border of the great swamp, and we arrived at
Bedeguna at sunset. The galadema, literally “gate-keeper,” or
governor, was a Felatah, and a particular friend of Mohamoud El
Wordee, by whom we were introduced to him. He was tall and
slender, with a high arched nose, broad forehead, and large eyes;
and, indeed, altogether as fine a looking black man as I had ever
seen. His behaviour, too, was at once kind and dignified. Besides his
native language, he spoke with fluency Arabic, and the tongues of
Bornou and Haussa. He asked us a great many questions about
England, of which he had heard; and said his master, the Sultan of
the Felatahs, would be glad to see us. He applied to Dr. Oudney for
medicines, on account of a urinary obstruction, a disease very
prevalent in this country. We made him a present of a small paper
snuff-box full of cloves; he sent us, in return, a plentiful supply of
milk.
The territory of Bedeguna, or little Bede, formerly belonged to
Bornou. The inhabitants are Bornouese, and speak their native
language. The territory includes many towns and villages, and
produces much gussub, Indian corn, wheat, and cotton. Herds of
cattle are also numerous. The principal implement of agriculture is a
hoe made of native iron, of their own manufacture. They reap with a
crooked knife, and merely cut off the ears of corn, which they store in
round thatched huts of clay, or matting, raised on wooden blocks
from the ground. The grain is cleaned from the husk by hand
rubbing, and ground into flour between two stones. We saw no
plough to the southward of Sockna, a town between Tripoli and
Fezzan. I inquired of the governor about the source of the swollen
river we crossed on a raft between Gateramaran and old Birnee,
which again presented itself close to our present encampment. He
told me it rose in the country of Yacoba, among rocky hills, and,
running to the eastward of old Birnee, soon afterwards entered the
Yow. On questioning him further about Yacoba, the name of the
country, he said it was the sultan’s name; for the people were
infidels, and had no name for their own country. The river, he added,
was distinguished by the appellation of the Little River, and in these
parts did not dry up throughout the whole year.
The country to the south-east and south-west appears to be an
entire swamp, overflowed of course in the rainy season. Felatahs are
in features, and in the manner of wearing the turban, very like the
inhabitants of Tetuan in Morocco. They are here much esteemed by
the people whom they rule for the impartial administration of justice,
and were uniformly kind and civil to us. Our two prisoners happened
to be well known, having only left the town that morning. They were
accordingly liberated, but their clothes were not restored.
We were not a little indebted to the Arab merchants for the good
name they gave us. They almost looked upon us as of their own
nation; and although Kafirs, we, as Englishmen, were allowed to
rank at least next to themselves. I really believe they would have
risked their lives in our defence. Travelling in a kafila was much more
pleasant than any mode we had hitherto tried; all being ready to
oblige one another, and all vying in attention to us. The lake
Zumbrum is about twelve miles south-south-west from Bedeguna.
Dec. 28.—At sunrise to-day the thermometer was at 45°. Our new
friend, the governor, accompanied us two or three miles out of town.
At parting he prayed God to bless us; and, laying his hand on his
forehead, said he hoped we should ever continue friends. The road
at first followed the borders of the marsh, by the side of the Little
River, which suddenly breaks off to the southward, at a town called
Goobeer. There we filled our goat skins with water. We continued our
course, and shortly came to a strong red clay soil, densely covered
with grass so long that it actually overtopped our heads, although on
horseback. At sunset we halted in the woods for the night. The
horses and beasts of burden were last watered, when we filled our
water skins. Dr. Oudney was attacked with ague, but luckily the
evening proved very mild. For two or three nights past he has had a
fire in his tent, which seemed to abate the violence of his cough. This
evening, addressing me with resigned composure, he said, “I feel it
is all over with me. I once hoped to conduct the mission to a
successful termination, but that hope has vanished. Whenever my
death takes place, I wish my papers to be put into the hands of Mr.
Barrow, or Professor Jameson, provided the request meets with Earl
Bathurst’s approbation.” As this was a painful subject, I did not
encourage its renewal, and, according to this solemn injunction of
my lamented friend, I have delivered all his papers to Mr. Barrow.
Dec. 29.—After toiling two hours through a thickly wooded
country, we came in view of a large plain, with numerous towns and
villages. We found the towns by no means so neat as in Bornou, the
coozees, or huts, being much smaller, and often in bad repair. The
people raise great quantities of grain, principally gussub. We saw
five ostriches, which made off from us with great speed. Dr. Oudney
was a great deal better. In the afternoon we arrived at Sansan. Our
horsemen skirmished a little in front of the caravan before entering
the town, and then galloped up in pairs to the governor’s door, firing
off their muskets. This is the common compliment paid by kafilas in
such cases. The governor was absent on an expedition, headed by
the governor of Katagum, against the Bedites, who are in the
immediate neighbourhood. As before observed, the Bedites have
never received the doctrines of Mahomet; and, although speaking
the language of Bornou, and acknowledging a kind of nominal
sovereignty of the Bornouese sultan, they are every where regarded
as a race of outlaws, whom it is incumbent on every good
Mussulman, Bornouese, or Felatah, to enslave or murder. This race
is said to have no religion; but their common practice of first holding
up to heaven the carcass of any animal, killed for food, belies their
being atheists—a reproach attributed to them solely by their
enemies. On the contrary, it harmonizes with those universal feelings
of reverence and awe for a Supreme Being, which have ever existed
among all nations, and in all ages. The favourite food of this
persecuted tribe is said to be dogs, which they fatten for the
purpose. Their country is of small extent, defended by impenetrable
morasses and forests, by which alone they preserve a precarious
and dangerous independence.
At Sansan we were waited upon by the principal native
inhabitants, and the resident Arabs. Among the Arabs there was a
cousin of the sheikh of Bornou, Hadje El Min El Hanem. The reports
of our travelling companions, the merchants, contributed very much
to exalt our character wherever we went.
Dec. 30.—At noon I found the latitude of our encampment to be
12° 20′ 48″ north by meridian alt. of lower limb of sun. Sansan in
Arabic signifies “the gathering,” where the scattered parties of an
army assemble previous to an expedition. The town had its name
from a late sultan of Bornou, making it the rendezvous of his army
when he went to conquer Haussa. The place where he pitched his
tent is still held in great veneration, and the buildings around it were
first erected by his army. The neighbouring district also abounds in
towns and villages, which, together with Bedeguna and Sansan, are
under the governor of Katagum, who is himself subordinate to the
governor of Kano. Sansan is formed of three distinct towns, called
Sansan Birnee, Sidi Boori, and Sansan Bana. The principal one, in
which the governor resides, is Sansan Birnee, or Sansan Gora,
signifying “the walled,” from a low clay wall in ruins, surrounded by a
dry ditch almost filled up. The mosque is without a roof, and the huts
and houses of the inhabitants are old and dilapidated. Sidi Boori,
another of the three towns, having a signification so indecent that I
must forbear to translate it, is about half a mile west of Sansan
Birnee, and inhabited by Shauah Arabs. The third town, called
Sansan Bana, or, “of the banners,” where the sultan’s tent stood, is
about a mile distant from Sansan Birnee, and is inhabited by
Bornouese, who are here in great numbers, and were first brought
by force from Old Birnee, and other towns of Bornou. At present they
are quite reconciled to the change, and now remain from choice.
The sister of the sultan of Bornou, having been made captive by
the Felatahs, was living here with her husband in great obscurity,
although her brother, the sultan, is surrounded by all the barbaric