Tradin' Post

by M.L. Bushman

By God, Dead Weaver's brother had to know he's dead already. Had to know what we did to those Townsmen, too.


I dismounted to look for anything that might help me dig a large enough hole for all the dead. Wishing I'd brought that spade along at least. Until it dawned on me just how much up against time I had to be. Need some kind of defense, if we're going to have the slimmest shot at survival.


"What're you going to do?" Sarah said, her voice wavering.


"Bury them," I said, stirring the smoldering ashes of the wagon with a dead branch. Didn't mean the dead either. Maybe later we come back and bury what's left of these folk, if we lived.

39 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 7, 2013

About the author

M.L. Bushman has three books published by Jigsaw Press--Miracle the novel; and The Implausible Hero. She also writes under the pseudonym Kris Karrel and has two books published as such: Threads, a Blaine Horney Mystery, and Just Blaine Horney. She is currently working on a futuristic Western series of books.

A single mom, Ms. Bushman wears a lot of hats these days. Novelist, writer, editor-Jigsaw Press, typesetter, book cover designer, interior layout and design, to name a few.

In addition to all of the above, the author likes to play ranch-hand for her better than good neighbors when called upon. "In my neck of the woods," she says, "we're all cow and horse junkies. Sort of goes with the territory."

Ms. Bushman states emphatically that she could do none of the above without the support of God and her twelve-year-old daughter, a girl good as gold and smart as the day is long, and then some.

The author and her daughter share their home outside of Sun River, Montana, with one indoor cat--Lady--numerous outdoor cats with names like Garfield, Whiskers, Garfield Imposter, Pinky and Rabbit, plus one American Saddlebred horse, Chewy.