Chapter 1

Harold Gladstone rode around the large open space that was part of his range on the edge of the little community he’d founded. Lately, people had been calling their town Gladstone after him. He’d started it by asking his brother to open a general store, and his cousin a hotel and livery. Soon people started putting down roots along their brief stop, and the town had been born. That winter, several of the men had asked him to be the official mayor of Gladstone, and he’d agreed.

Now, on this first Saturday, when there was no more snow or rain, they’d all gathered to have a hoedown and potluck. He watched as the families of the community interacted with each other. The laughing squeal of a young girl caught his attention, turning him and Thor toward the sound. He saw young Minuette Vaughner running along the bank of the river, trying to escape little Liam Campbell.

As he watched, the bank under her feet gave out, dropping her into the swollen river below. Without a thought for himself or his prized stallion, he raced to the end of the covered bridge, turned sharply back toward the river, and both horse and rider plunged in. As always when working, it was like one thought connected horse and rider. The mighty horse churned against the current, striving to bring Harold close enough to the floundering girl, so that he could reach down and rescue her from the crushing depths of the floodwaters.

Harold felt Thor weakening with every moment they were in the whitewater. The chill of the snowmelt swollen river was leaching into his legs and tiring him as well. The spray, like tiny fingers of icy death, nipped at his face and soaked into his body. Yet, like his steed, he kept fighting, leaning as far forward and down as he could until his massive hand gripped the child’s clothes. He balled it up in his fist and heaved her out of the water. Her hands and face were already turning blue with the loss of heat.

He pulled her close to his body, sharing his warmth with her as he urged Thor to turn toward the bank. The horse struggled and the force of the current was winning, carrying them under the bridge and toward the turn in the river. Thor quit fighting the current and slowly kicked toward the bank, allowing the current to carry him downriver but closer in to the side. The bank here was too steep for Thor to get out and he was tiring rapidly. He started to sink lower in the water. Harold wasn’t sure he or the steed were going to survive much longer. Once Thor went under, the temperature of the water would paralyze his muscles very quickly. He felt the cold even now, sapping the strength from his body.

As they got close to the shore, he saw Minuette and Liam’s fathers racing along the river bank, calling out to him. With his remaining strength, he reached low, grabbed the girl’s bloomers through her skirt, and heaved her up onto the bank. Both fathers reached out and quickly snagged her before she could slip back into the river.

It was like Thor knew they’d accomplished their mission, and Harold felt his muscles quit moving as the water closed over his head. Before Harold realized what that meant to him, his head sank below the water’s surface, and he was lost to the floodwaters of the mighty river.