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BIG SI VAN DEMER GUILTY OF MURDER

Dateline, Fall 1870, Laramie, Wyoming Territory

Gossip has been rife since Army Colonel Brackett stepped in and declared the murder trial of Miss Kiera Alden to be a mistrial. Miss Alden was subsequently released from government custody and declared innocent of any crime. Stunning actions followed with the arrest of three of Wyoming’s most prominent citizens: Judge Herbert Richter, Prosecuting Attorney Gerald Scott, and Big Si Van Demer, the wealthiest and most powerful ranch owner in the territory. Even more stunning, the proof against these three men came from Van Demer’s daughter, Miss Elise Van Demer.

This young lady gave sworn testimony before Colonel Brackett, the highest legal authority in the absence of legitimate cival authority. We quote Miss Van Demer here.

“My father, Simon Van Demer, is the person who shot Sheriff Boswell and tried to cover it up by burning down the horse barn. He then falsely accused Miss Kiera Alden, stealing from her evidence she possessed that would prove her innocence. I found this evidence and have returned it to Miss Alden through Marshall Evrett Quinn.”

When Big Si’s legal representative questioned the veracity of a rebellious daughter’s testimony, Miss Van Demer replied as follows.

“My accusations are not false. I witnessed the argument between my father and Sam, Sheriff Boswell, but Daddy didn’t see me. He was too busy starting the fire in the barn. I wanted to go to Sam, but I knew he was dead. I’d seen the life go out of him the minute he was shot. So I ran.”

Miss Van Demer explained her absence of two weeks–an absence that might have cost Miss Kiera Alden her life–by stating that she had gone to seek counsel from her grandfather. Turning her father in for murder disturbed Miss Van Demer, but seeing an innocent person hang for his crime bothered the young lady more.

On return to Laramie, Miss Van Demer immediately sought out Marshall Quinn who had already called in Colonel Bracket because of doubts about Big Si’s version of events.

Miss Van Demer’s further testimony before the colonel clarifies the charges her father now faces

“I can also testify that I saw my father talking with Judge Richter and heard them discuss bribes that my father had given the judge and the prosecuting attorney to guarantee that Miss Alden was found guilty and sentenced to hang.”

The uproar over this near miscarriage of justice has been overwhelming. So much so that the venue was changed for the trials of Mr. Van Demer, Judge Richter, and Attorney Scott. As of this date all three have been sentenced to maximum prison sentences.

As for Miss Van Demer she is still a minor and subject to the legal authority of her father who will be in prison for at least twenty years. Her only other relative, her maternal grandfather, has passed away recently. One can only wonder what will become of this young lady.

About One Night’s Desire – Book 2 of the Wildfire Love Series is available now at https://Books2Read.com/u3nvizo.

A WOMAN ON THE RUN – Rustlers, claim jumpers and fire, nothing will stop Kiera Alden from reuniting her family.  But an accusation of murder threatens her dreams and sets Marshall Evrett Quinn on her trail.  She may be able to escape prison bars and eventually prove her innocence, but she can’t escape Quinn’s love.

A LAWMAN IN HOT PURSUIT – Marshall Evrett Quinn is relentless in pursuit of law-breakers, and pretty Kiera Alden is no exception.  Clever and courageous, she evades him until chance encounter turns the tables.  Finally he has this elusive desperado under arrest, but success is bittersweet when she captures his heart. 
Elise Van Demer’s story, The Legend of Skinner Robelard, releases Nov. 16, 2020. Join Rue’s Crew on FB or sign up for Rue’s News to get updates.

About Rue Allyn – About Rue Allyn – Award winning author, Rue Allyn, learned story telling at her grandfather’s knee. (Well it was really more like on his knee—I was two.) She’s been weaving her own tales ever since. She has worked as an instructor, mother, sailor, clerk, sales associate, and painter, along with a variety of other types of employment. She has lived and traveled in places all over the globe from Keflavik Iceland (I did not care much for the long nights of winter.) and Fairbanks Alaska to Panama City and the streets of London England to a large number of places in between. Now that her two sons have left the nest, Rue and her husband of more than four decades (Try living with the same person for more than forty years—that’s a true adventure.) have retired and moved south.  When not writing, enjoying the nearby beach or working jigsaw puzzles, Rue travels the world and surfs the internet in search of background material and inspiration for her next heart melting romance.. She loves to hear from readers, and you may contact her at Rue@RueAllyn.com.  She can’t wait to hear from you.

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That Tattler has learned that General Beresford is currently considering a request from Capt. Warwick Clifton (the Duke’s son) to purchase his promised commission. We hear the General is reluctant to support the advancement of such a man. Why? Dear readers, you may well ask!

Miss Louisa Beresford, traveling in Switzerland at present ‘to improve her French’ knows nothing of the matter. So say all her intimate friends and relations — in which case your author asks, how came such as the below to be written?

• 

A Letter from Major Musgrave to his cousin, Louisa.

My dearest cousin,

Firstly, may I say that your last letter last greatly distressed both myself and the General. You need not fear the family. We would not dream of abandoning you, and will ensure the child is well-placed. Why, Evers recently spoke of a family ready and willing to assist us, for a relatively minor consideration. Rest assured you will not be inconvenienced in any way once your continental sojourn is complete.

I insist we meet Evers directly on your return to England, that we may resolve this matter entirely. The General joins with me in requesting again – most urgently – that you give up screening the man.

You report that he is ‘too mighty a gentleman’ and to expose him risks you and yours. My dear Louisa, you are a general’s daughter and your father has the ear of the Regent. There is no man in all England more favoured than my uncle at present, and there is no favour he will not request on behalf of a most beloved daughter.

Pertinent to the above, your Papa begs you will answer his letters. He asks that you not resent his temper too deeply or for too much longer, my dear. Anger is the least of the feelings he holds towards you, and his resentment is long since passed.

May your memories of his kindness and duty as a most affectionate parent outdo any final impressions. Depend on the former, gentler sensations my dear cousin, and place no faith in your last. You know his pride, Louisa, and his temper.

I ask you again to consider my request regarding the man involved. The term ‘gentleman’ is in this case mis-applied. Only speak his name, cousin, and you shall find yourself at once defended, and your honour avenged.

Your (always) affectionate cousin,

Maj. Henry Musgrave

For delivery of these words we am indebted to a source I cannot name. Rest assured, dear readers, that our authority is irreproachable. Let it serve, too, as a warning to those managing large establishments that they’d best take better care of their staff than they do of their clothing.

About the Book

• 

Captain Warwick ‘Wil’ Clifton returns from the Peninsula Wars too world-weary for English social niceties. He wants nothing more than to return to the army but finds his father, the duke, his greatest obstacle. Frustrated and restless, Wil seeks solace in the bedchambers of Regency England, skirting such scandal with finesse. When Clifton finds himself facing an entirely different man on the duelling field to the one he expects, he starts to wonder if even he may have gone too far this time.

When Clifton offers to assist the Romany family he has injured, he’s unprepared for the warmth of Romany camaraderie. Neither is he remotely ready for the force of nature that is their princess. Keeping a lid on his desire for the Romany princess takes all Wil’s self-control. This rake is well out of practice at showing restraint but soon, the Captain has a new decision to make: What is he willing to risk for love?

As the eldest daughter of the Romany king, Syeira Brishen carries the title of Princess as proudly as she does her finely-honed distrust of Englishmen. When the Romany prince faces the surest shot in the country and loses, Syeira is determined to see to it that her brother heals fully. To do this, she reluctantly accepts Captain Clifton’s help and finds that, while the English may not conduct family matters the same way as her Romany, some at least are capable of affection, passion – even love. As a Romany, she trusts her heart – but what if her heart loves an Englishman?

Caught between family duty, and a desire to be with the man she loves, can the Romany princess choose happiness over duty, or will she need some convincing?

About the Author

• 

Clyve Rose is an award-winning author of historical fiction both in Australia and the US. She has been writing historical romance fiction for the best part of two decades. She works in the Regency and Georgian periods, with occasional detours into Ancient Greece.

https://www.clyverose.com

Dear readers, we present a bit from a purloined diary regarding a similarly stolen kiss.

Wednesday—29th July, 1763… This afternoon, while removing ink stains from shirts, I watched that meddlesome miss from the house across the field, Miss Henrietta Smith, kiss Marcus Hardwicke. Just the thought of it brings me fits of giggles that leave me hiccupping. I know I should feel sorry for her, but the look on Marcus’s face can never be unseen. Instead of closing his eyes like he taught me last summer, his eyes grew twice as large as turkey eggs. He stood there, stiller than the statue at the center of town, arms like oak limbs stiff and hanging at his sides, and pallor as pale as putty.

I can’t keep my quill from shaking, I’m laughing all over again.

You could tell by the enthusiastic way she leaned into him, color high on her cheeks, she intended the kiss as a conquest. It lasted, and lasted, and lasted, to the point where I almost stepped away from my chores to save them both from the misery of it. At long last, she released him. Poor girl had a face like a kicked kitten—and now I’m feeling sorry for her! Miss Smith took a step back, and then retreated. She lifted handfuls of her skirts and ran all the way home. (I would have done the same, had I been soundly rejected. But when I kissed Marcus, I was kissed back!)

Now I suppose we won’t be seeing the likes of Miss Smith around here anymore. No loss for me, that’s for sure. Doubtful it’s a loss for poor Marcus either.

The Laundress, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 1761
(Public Domain)

About the Book

Henrietta Smith was fifteen when she stole a kiss from Marcus Hardwicke. Over a decade later, she’s still waiting to be kissed back…

Henrietta learned the hard way that when you get what you pay for you might end up with a British soldier quartering in your home threatening your friends, an enormous dog tracking mud through your house and stealing the chickens, and Marcus Hardwicke disrupting your uncomplicated life by trying to improve it. And to think she just wanted her roof fixed.

Marcus, wickedly handsome carpenter and rebel rogue, fell off Henrietta’s leaking roof. He can’t leave until his broken ankle heals, giving him plenty of time to consider his past mistakes, including Henrietta’s indelible kiss from a lifetime ago. But Henrietta could lose more than her home if she doesn’t encrypt British secrets, and the latest puts Marcus in the crosshairs.

The first installment in debut author Hallie Alexander’s steamy Sons of Neptune Series introduces readers to a band of heroic rebels at the brink of the American Revolution.

Available on Amazon & KindleUnlimited: amzn.to/2ZxZqhJ

• 

Excerpt

“Hetty Betty, a man couldn’t easily forget you. But you haven’t been Hetty Betty Smith in a long time, have you?”

“It’s Caldwell. Is. Was.” Henrietta rolled her eyes. Sam died last year, and she still hadn’t mustered the emotional resources to mourn.

“My condolences, Mrs. Caldwell.” Marcus bowed theatrically over an extended leg.

“Don’t be a fool.” She swatted him with her fan as if the last thirteen years hadn’t shaped them into adults. When was the last time she joked?

His face brightened with a wide grin. Nice to see he had all of his teeth. Was he assessing her too? For a woman nearing thirty, she could look a lot worse. Would he see her that way, or would he recall the mousy girl he had rejected?

“Pretty Hetty Betty.” He shook his head, clicking his tongue.

Dear God. He remembered everything, didn’t he? The one time she took a risk.

“Stop. No one’s called me that since childhood.” Since playing tag by the pond in the shade of the old great barn. Since stealing a kiss not meant for her.

“Pity.”

About the Author

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