DEATH AT BETHESDA FALLS - Press Release

 

DEATH AT BETHESDA FALLS

[Bethesda Falls: 1 of 4]

“… is it open season on women all of a sudden?” 

Jim Thorp had killed plenty of men. They deserved to die. Thorp was a hard man, made so by a bloody Civil War. But he didn’t relish this visit to Bethesda Falls. His old sweetheart Anna worked there as a school-teacher and he was hunting her brother, Clyde, for armed robbery and other more terrible crimes. He didn’t want to hurt Anna but it looked like he would anyway. Clyde, the foreman of the M-bar-W ranch, is due to wed Ellen, the rancher’s daughter. He’s also poisoning the old man to hasten the inheritance. Thorp’s presence in town starts the downward slide to violence, when not only is Ellen’s life in danger, but also that of Anna and Thorp himself. It is destined to end in bloodshed and death.

Amazon UK: https://tinyurl.com/4h7pw7em 

Amazon US: https://tinyurl.com/mv5t7dcc

***

Other books in the Bethesda Falls series (all self-contained stories):

Last Chance Saloon

Blind Justice at Wedlock

Old Guns

***

She flushed again but now steel had entered her eyes and the tone in her voice chilled his bones. “I am a fool. You didn’t come to see me, did you? It’s Clyde you want, is that it?”

Again he nodded and this time he sipped at the coffee; it scalded his throat, but he ignored the sharp discomfort as he really thought that he deserved that little amount of pain at least. Because that was nothing compared to the pain he was going to inflict on Anna.

Sure, she had a right to know, but how do you tell the only woman your heart had room for that you’re here to kill her brother?

*** 

Suddenly, a lariat looped over Anna’s head and it tightened round her chest and the wind was pulled out of her as it was tautened. Roughly, the rope dragged her backwards and she almost lost her balance. She staggered, trying not to fall to the ground.

“Nice ropin’, Ed!” Abe ran up to her.

***

But the rocks beneath the sorrel’s hooves were slimy and slippery and before she could control the critter they tipped over the edge of this pool and plummeted amidst a down-soaring stream of spray that soaked her. Worse, she found it difficult to breathe, taking in chilly water that made her cough and spasm.

Their descent seemed to last an age but must have been mere seconds.

Shockingly cold and hard, the roiling base of the waterfalls engulfed them. Here, it was very deep, where the water had pounded into the rock base for aeons. Even as she kicked herself free of the stirrups, her clothing threatened to drag her down. She was short of breath and terribly frightened because no matter how hard she tried to move her arms to pull herself up to the surface and blessed fresh air, she couldn’t muster the strength. Her corset and bodice were tight, constricting, and her lungs were bursting.

Originally published by Robert Hale 2007 - my first book sale - under the pen-name Ross Morton! Now re-published as a paperback.

THROWING KNIVES AT MOTHER - Guest blog

This is a guest blog from Barrie Mahoney, who lives in the Canary Islands. Barrie was a teacher, head teacher and school inspector in the UK, and also a reporter in mainland Spain, before moving to the Canaries as a newspaper editor. He is the author of two crime thrillers: Journeys and Jigsaws, Threads and Threats and several non-fiction books, Twitters from the Atlantic, Message in a Bottle, Expat Survival, Living the Dream and Letters from the Atlantic. His weekly column ‘Twitters from the Atlantic’ is featured in several newspapers, including the English newspaper The Leader (www.yourlocalnewspaper.info), where this article appeared on July 22, 2013.  His article, while being of general interest, should also prove fascinating to anyone fond of the Old West. Here it is:

THROWING KNIVES AT MOTHER

No, rest assured, this is not another harrowing tale of domestic violence, but a skilful performance by Dorian Ledda and his family who have been performing in Gran Canaria’s Sioux City for the last 28 years of so...

These were the opening words of an article that I wrote for a magazine several years ago, following a visit to Sioux City, which could best be described as a Wild West experience on an island in the Atlantic. It is the stuff that generations of boys and girls read about in their comic books and watched countless films of baddies being dealt instant justice by goodies. Sadly, Sioux City is no more, as it closed its gates for the last time a few days ago, for financial reasons, after 42 years of faithful service to the cowboy loving public on holiday in our island paradise.

The Cañon del Aguila (Eagle Canyon) offered a barren landscape and gave the perfect opportunity to recreate a pioneer Old West town based in the 1850s, with real buildings that are unique in Europe with a complete construction, and not just simple film set frontages. Sioux City was just the stuff to feed the imagination, relive childhood memories, as well as being a great place for a day out. 

The town was constructed and used as a film set in 1972, at a cost of two million dollars, for major Hollywood Wild West films, such as Clint Eastwood’s ‘A Fistful of Dollars’, ‘A Few Dollars More’ and ‘Take a Long Hard Ride’. Gran Canaria’s desert-like landscape in the south of the island was just right for this kind of film in those days.

Once filmmaking was completed, the set became redundant and was opened to the public as a theme park with a difference. Until last week, visitors would wander expectantly through the gates of this Wild West town and be instantly transported into a world of cowboys and Indians, bar brawls and bank hold-ups. 

 

It is in this Wild West town that I interviewed Dorian Ledda and his family – mother, Katy and brothers Davide and Daniele, an Italian family from Turin, who presented breathtaking performances of knife throwing, lassoes, whips and horse riding. Originally the Ledda family performed in Italian circuses, theatres and television before moving to Gran Canaria thirty years ago. Indeed, Dorian’s father was throwing knives at his mother when she was pregnant with Dorian, and so throwing knives at mother seemed the most natural thing in the world to do!

Dorian’s brother, Daniele, also featured in the Guinness World Book of Records for jumping with a lasso, as well as appearing in a feature for the BBC. Dorian and his two brothers performed at Sioux City and Katy had knives, axes and flaming torches thrown at her. Indeed, watching the poor lady endure this torment from her sons with such a contented smile on her face made for a very unusual Sunday morning’s entertainment! 

Although the knife throwing act was performed several times a day for the last thirty years, fortunately without an accident, I couldn’t help thinking that it would not be a good idea to have a row with your sons or let them throw knives at you after a night of partying!

 

Sadly, this fictional universe and unique recreational activity for tourists visiting the island, created as a labour of love by several generations of craftsmen and entertainers over four decades, has now come to an end. Like so many who know Sioux City well, I hope that a way will be found to open it once again to an adoring public, who can once again watch magnificent horses, can-can dancers in beautiful frilly costumes, cowboys falling from buildings, as well as Indians throwing knives at mother.

If you enjoyed this article, take a look at Barrie’s websites: www.barriemahoney.com and www.thecanaryislander.com or read his latest book, Twitters from the Atlantic  (ISBN: 978 1480033986). Available as paperback, Kindle and iBooks. iPhone/iPad Apps: ExpatInfo and CanaryIsle now available from the Apple Store.

 

Thank you, Barrie! Interestingly, my next Black Horse Western The Magnificent Mendozas features a circus troupe, with two family members in a knife throwing act. And of course Tenerife features in my latest crime thriller Blood of the Dragon Trees - published by Crooked Cat and available from Amazon.co.uk - http://goo.gl/fsLk3X And anyone interesting in the writing of a western or any genre fiction might like to cast an eye over Write a Western in 30 Days! - http://goo.gl/FbQGr1

 

Review of A Fistful of Legends

The weekly English newspaper here on the Costas runs a book review. This time around it's the turn of A Fistful of Legends. Verdict: the review liked the stories and reckons they'd appeal to a wider audience than just fans of the western. I reckon that many Black Horse Western books would do the same too, if only people would cast aside their reluctance to pick up a 'western'.

Book of the film: Hondo

‘A man ought to do what he thinks is best.’ – Hondo Lane.

‘Hondo Lane was a big man… with the lean hard-boned face of the desert rider… His toughness was ingrained and deep, without cruelty, yet quick, hard and dangerous. Whatever wells of gentleness might lie within him were guarded and deep.’

Hondo and his trusty dog Sam are being stalked by two Apache warriors. He chooses the time and place for the showdown. This action-filled beginning is dropped from the film. Shortly afterwards, deprived of his horse, he wanders into a deep fertile basin and a lonely small ranch. This is where the film opens – and it works. Hondo meets up with Mrs Angie Lowe and her young son Johnny, both struggling to keep the ranch going in the absence of any man. Hondo befriends them and helps out. He warns them that Vittoro is on the warpath but Angie says they’ll be fine, they got along with the Apache. Hondo was half-Apache so understood; he borrowed one of Angie’s horses and left for the fort with despatches. It was a sad leavetaking because there was strong affection between them.

There is the complication of Angie’s husband and in the film this sticks closely to the book. L’Amour also wrote several pages about the Cavalry Company C, the lead up to their massacre; this was neatly discarded in the film script, Hondo simply pulling from his saddlebags the Company’s flag which he took off the Indian braves he killed (before the film began!)

Additional complications arise when Vittoro turns up wanting to adopt young Johnny as his son. He also declares that Angie must take a wife – an Apache brave. She has till the planting rains come to decide which warrior she would accept…

How the drama is played out between the pioneer woman, the gunman and the Apache warrior makes for tense reading. This is such a good yarn that it’s quite humbling to note that it was L’Amour’s first novel, published in 1953. He went on to produce over 120 books with sales in the 300 million range. The film, starring John Wayne and Geraldine Page (making her film debut), was made in the same year. Other actors included Wayne’s pal, Ward Bond and pre-Gunsmoke James Arness. Hondo’s dog Sam was played by Lassie!

Hondo has great characterisation, powerful visuals of the stark Arizona land and moments of understated tenderness. The book could have been written for Wayne as Hondo exemplified the star’s values – honesty, loyalty, bravery, self-reliance and independence. As the Duke’s son Michael said, ‘What you see on the screen is what John Wayne was off the screen. It is how he lived his life.’

L’Amour honed his craft by writing many short stories before embarking on a novel-length tale. Sadly, there is no longer such a good market of pulp magazines for new writers to supply, where they can develop and improve their writing.

On a few occasions, L’Amour jumps character point of view between Hondo and Angie, Hondo and Ed Lowe etc in the same scene, but it’s forgivable because the characters and story smoothly move you on. Even if the viewpoint is omniscient, I found those particular jumps jarred a little. I also felt that the fast-paced ending seems a little rushed but it’s satisfying nevertheless. It was interesting to see that the film’s final confrontation between the Apache and the settlers and cavalry was lengthier than in the reading; much of the violence wasn’t actually shown in any graphic detail, which probably had something to do with the film code of the time.

It’s quite understandable why this book marked the beginning of L’Amour’s successful career as a novelist. You know and feel that L’Amour, like his character Hondo, has integrity and honour and it shines through. As Angie’s thoughts emphasise: ‘… this also her father had given her: reserve of judgment, and to judge no man or woman by a grouping, but each on his own character, his own ground.’

Wayne was already a big box office star. This film did his career no harm at all and the Hondo Lane character can rightly join the Ringo Kid, Ethan Edwards and Rooster Cogburn in the Wayne hall of fame. Bearing in mind this film was released in 1953, its treatment of the Apache was honest and sympathetic – as was L’Amour’s.

L’Amour states in the Foreword: ‘I do not need to go to Thermopylae or the Plains of Marathon for heroism. I find it here on the frontier.’ As do we, his readers.