Forbearance
by
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From a very early age, Emily Harrigan has been trained in criminology by her father and has a promising career as a detective in the city of Manchester, New Hampshire. She is gifted in her investigative skills but her empathy for the innocent victims, which her job constantly keeps her in contact with, causes insomnia, encroached guilt and symptoms of disassociation. She has turned away from God for letting such horrible things happen to children and good people.
Her effort to temporarily “re-group” and, at the same time, help out a fellow officer in a “peaceful” little town, sends her straight into a foreign and frightening environment of wild animals, murderers and poachers and to the aid of a rookie game warden who is in eminent danger of losing his life. In her struggle to maintain her own equilibrium, what she didn’t count on was falling in love with both the person she saved and (in her mother’s words) “this poverty-row town”.
Daniel is a flawed and sacrificial hero. Though agile, sensible and intuitive in the ways of wildlife, he never meant to be a game officer in these northern woods where hunting is an equalizer and problems are resolved within the darkness of trees. It doesn’t help that the previous game warden looked the other way on poaching and the poor people of this area liked it better that way.
As a young child, he was abandoned by his French mother and always ranked second to the military by his forever-deployed Abenaki father. He moved away from his dreams of being a wildlife biologist in order to be near his grieving foster mother, after the loss of her son and his best friend in Iraq. Daniel’s efforts to help this feisty, Cree woman, protect game which is being hunted illegally, and assist a poacher’s abused wife to safety, earns him a bullet.
Into Daniel’s shattered life, comes a city detective with hair the color of summer deer. Emily substitutes for him, as well as for the constable, in this otherwise “slow time” of the year. With her honesty and sense of humor, Emily has the town’s people doing all they can to help her. Gently and not so gently, she encourages Daniel through his physical healing. Yet, inside her, festers a guilt for the victims she wasn’t in time to save and depression over what human kind can do at its worst. Daniel must find his way back to faith, hope and trust in God before he can begin to help her. But when he does, it seems as if he is too late.
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About the Book
From a very early age, Emily’s father has mentored her in criminology, and she has a promising career as a detective in the city of Manchester, New Hampshire. Now a two year veteran of the police force, she is gifted in her investigative skills, but empathy for innocent victims causes her insomnia, guilt, and symptoms of disassociation. She has turned away from God for His allowance of horrible things to happen to children and good people. Her effort to temporarily “take leave and re-group” and at the same time stand in for soon to be vacationing, Constable Pete Hines, in his “peaceful little town”, sends her straight into a foreign and frightening environment of wild animals and poachers—and to the aid of a rookie game warden who is in imminent danger of losing his life. In her struggle to maintain her own equilibrium, what she didn’t count on is falling in love with Daniel and also with this (in her mother’s words) “poverty-row town.” Daniel is a fl awed and sacrificial hero. Though agile and intuitive in the ways of the woods, this PHD graduate in Wildlife Biology only became a game officer so he could be near his grieving foster mother as she endures the death of her biological son. Daniel’s authority is put to the test because the previous game warden looked the other way on poaching, and the poor people of this area liked it better that way. Here in Kaskitesiw, hunting is an equalizer and problems are resolved within the darkness of trees. Gently and not so gently, Emily encourages Daniel through physical healing. Yet her guilt festers for the victims she wasn’t in time to save and depression, over what humankind can do at its worst, threatens to take her from her career, Daniel, and even her own life. Daniel must find trust in God once more before he can begin to help Emily. But when he does — it seems as if he is too late.
About the Author
In college, I majored in English and minored in journalism, but I have learned much more through life experiences, reading, and practicing my writing skills. I have been writing and storytelling all of my life in a variety of ways, but I had to work, not always in my chosen field. I am also a wife and partner and raised two children, jobs that took precedence over anything else. There was no time to write a novel. Retired now, I have time. I am happiest when I am weaving words.
I live in the hills of New Hampshire in a very remote area. As a semi-self-educated biologist and botanist, I am enamored with all God's creations, and it saddens me to see them treated so thoughtlessly today. My commitment to raising awareness that wildlife deserves respect and humane treatment, protected times and sheltered places, is the theme of my first novel.