1887 The Day They Turned Off The Water
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Sally rushed out to the porch. “Deputy—where’s Jake? He left here this morning to go see you and when I went to find him in Hanford—he wasn’t and you weren’t—” “Hold on there. Jake’s over in Visalia—” “Visalia? What’s he doing in Visalia?” “Sitting in jail, I’m afraid, Sally, ’cause of what happened at the Settler’s Ditch.” “Kacha can tell you what happened. Then you let Jake go,” Sally demanded. The Deputy removed his hat, his fingers creasing the blocking with one hand, his other on the brim. “We just need to find out more about the situation—with an unarmed man dead. Jake’s already confessed to the murder.” “Murder?” “Sheriff Parker wants me to take Kacha in as well. He was there.” “Wh . . .” Sally was speechless, but only momentarily. “That dead man was a gunslinger who shot Kacha and his horse!” “I’m sorry, Sally.” The law officer interrupted her tirade. “You see, by law Kacha’s only ¾ or some fraction of a person—I forget exactly—him being a Tachi-Yokut. As an Indian, he can’t testify. Be like asking a dog to. He’s no witness. But he helped.” “It was an accident—” “Enough with the but’s and didn’t mean to’s, young lady. This is how it is. There’s a dead man because of your men, and I can’t do nothing about that. I’m sorry it has to go that way, but they shouldn’a killed anybody.”
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About the Book
Spring 1887. Melting snowpack from the high Sierras will soon turn California’s Central Valley into lush fields, but an armed man with a Sharps rifle shut off a headwater gate to a water-ditch and stood guard. After an unexpected confrontation with Double B Ranch owner, Jake Sanders, along with ranch-hand Kacha, this gunman now lies dead and Jake along with wounded Kacha, are both jailed for murder. The unscrupulous lobbyist who ‘steals to get the office and who gets the office to steal,” Billy “Boss” Carr, claims to know nothing about the man or the situation, in spite of owning the land where the headwater gate is. Water is profitable for Carr, however, and he is aligned with both the prosecutor and judge. It is up to Jake’s wife, Sally, to find a way to prove Jake and Kacha’s innocence; the truth of the matter. But with these powerful men stacking the odds against her, can she? Or will she watch both men hanged? “Few writers can do what Wasserman has done: weave a historical thriller around the early battles over California water rights and the entrenched racism toward Blacks and the region’s Native Americans. Authentic characters enrich this crisp, exciting legal/thriller.” Pamela Sheppard, Publishing Consultant “A thrilling read, with twists and turns up until the very end.” Will Klipstine, Hollywood Screenwriter/Producer
About the Author
The daughter of a newspaperman, A.E. Wasserman grew up in a household filled with books and stories. At age 14, she wrote her first novella and never stopped writing, winning numerous awards, including top honors from Writer’s Digest, for her work. A.E. Wasserman’s current mystery/thrillers, The Langsford Series, [Think Sherlock Holmes meets Downton Abbey] have garnered international attention, not only in the U.S., but Europe, Australia, and the U.K. as well. Her work is critically acclaimed as richly atmospheric; her writing style bold and well-crafted. After graduating from The Ohio State University, she lived in London, then San Francisco. Currently she resides in the Los Padres National Forest in California with her family and her muse, a Border Collie named Topper. You can find her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Goodreads. Her website is www.aewasserman.com