Truth at Crossbones Pass (eBook)

Laura L. Morgan (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
304 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-8597-9 (ISBN)

Infos

Truth at Crossbones Pass is the third novel in a hard-to-put-down adventure series set in the wilds of Alaska. Fifteen-year-old Rogan Chaffey is forced to decide how he will handle the lies that threaten justice, freedom, and life's meaning. Rogan and his friends camp out at the mysterious Devilfish Bay, where legend has it an entire native village was wiped out by an enormous octopus. Invited to be a guest at the Northern Lights Adventure Therapy program for troubled teens, he is met with danger, adventure, and a surprise from his past. Rogan and his family are thrust into a rescue mission, combatting against the harsh environment of southeast Alaska. Sea lions, sharks, and monster-sized fish are not the only adversaries Rogan and his friends battle. Will truth win? They discover the answer atop Sourdough Mountain at the deadly Crossbones Pass.

Laura L. Morgan is a high school English and Public Speaking teacher in Lewiston, Idaho. She is the award-winning author of two novels in the Adventures of Rogan Chaffey series. She has been married to her fellow adventurer, Trent, for thirty-seven years and has three daughters, three sons-in-law, and nine grandchildren. She loves family adventures in God's beautiful creation: hiking, boating, hunting, camping, and fishing. Her hobbies include reading, writing, and photography. She lives on a semi-farm with many animals, rabbits being her favorite, and enjoys the time she is able to spend in the last frontier of Alaska.

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"e;Truth at Crossbones Pass"e; is the thrilling third novel in an adventurous series set in Alaska's wild landscapes. Fifteen-year-old Rogan Chaffey must decide how to handle lies that jeopardize justice and freedom. Rogan and his friends camp at Devilfish Bay, a place steeped in legend as the site of a village destroyed by a giant octopus. Invited to Northern Lights Adventure Therapy for troubled teens, Rogan encounters danger, adventure, and an unexpected connection to his past. As Rogan and his family embark on a rescue mission, they face the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness. They battle sea lions, sharks, and monstrous fish yet these challenges are only part of the peril. Tensions rise as Rogan grapples with questions of truth and survival. The journey reaches its climax atop Sourdough Mountain at the dangerous Crossbones Pass. In this gripping tale, Rogan learns what it means to fight for the truth.

Textauszug

CHAPTER 2

The Shooting Tree

After breakfast, Rogan and his friends took down the tent and laid it out in Tuff’s parents’ shop to dry before folding and stowing it. Rogan had the family four-wheeler as did Runt. They headed home on the dirt and gravel roads that cut through their small community. Rogan liked to hot dog it offroad but was always careful to be a safe driver through town. He wasn’t keen on losing the privilege of using the Yamaha Grizzly, plus he tried hard to be a responsible son. He had been the oldest child for five years now, since his older brother, Peter, had died from a brain tumor. Rogan had mostly worked through his angst about how God could’ve let Peter die when his family prayed so desperately for healing, but he still certainly missed his hero brother.

This tragedy had given Rogan a need to take over as protector of his two younger sisters. Lainey was ten and had enough energy to power a lighted Christmas tree. Peg was eight, quiet and timid, with petite, delicate features. Her greatest dislike in life was insects.

Rogan beeped his horn and hollered a goodbye to Runt when they reached the driveway to the Petersens’. Rogan continued a short distance then turned up his own driveway, graveled and steep. The Chaffey family lived on a hill that rose from the bay below. Tall cedar with moss-draped branches stood alongside scrubby spruce and hemlock trees. The hill was dotted with green-leafed huckleberry bushes, delicate ferns of various varieties, and soon-emerging wildflowers that would be scattered around. Their house was constructed from honey-colored logs that glowed a warm light whenever the sun overcame its shyness and stepped out from behind the coastal clouds.

Rogan parked the four-wheeler in the shed, greeted Sitka, their malamute husky, and hauled his gear into the mud room. The mud room was the entrance to the main part of the house. It opened up to the living room of their wood-crafted home. Beyond that was the kitchen, sporting a bay window with a seat on the ocean-view side of the house. The family dinner table, made of oak, sat in front of the window. Deeper in the kitchen, a utility island had pots and pans that hung silent and still. His parents had their bedroom at the other end of this floor, but his and his sisters’ bedrooms were upstairs. The girls shared a space, just as Rogan used to do with his brother, Peter.

Rogan plopped his duffle bag on the bench and took off his XTRATUF boots. These rubber boots, tall and brown-colored, were typical southeast Alaska footwear.

“Good morning, Son.”

Rogan looked up to see Elise Chaffey smiling at him.

“How was the overnighter?” Her light brown hair was tied back in her usual ponytail style. Rogan was proud that his mom was a tough Alaskan who wasn’t afraid to use a shotgun to ward off an angry bear or who happily went on a caving adventure. Just this past winter, she had been seriously injured in a snow-tubing accident that had left her temporarily paralyzed. She was still recovering but was much improved.

Boy, that wasn’t any fun, Rogan reminisced. He could still feel the pit of stress and anxiety in his stomach. He’d been the one to go over dark and icy roads with snow swirling like a tornado’s vortex with his dad to get his mom medical help. On the way home, he and his dad had gone off the slippery road in the 4Runner and had to hike a couple of miles in the wintry darkness with a pack of wolves nearby. To cap it all off, he was in charge of taking care of his sisters until his dad made it back home with his mom. Her recovery was slow and painful.

Rogan mentally shook off the bad memories from that experience as his dad came out of his den and joined his wife. Rogan smiled back at his mom. “We had fun. Last night, Tuff’s grandma told us the story of Devilfish Bay. It was awesome! You’ve told me a little about it, Dad, but she totally made it seem real.”

“Are you saying I’m a bad storyteller?”

Rogan knew his dad was teasing. “Well, if you want to admit it…” he began and then smiled. “Joking, of course.”

“I’m sure she told it better than I did. It’s okay.” Jim laughed.

“Mom, you asked me yesterday what I want to do for my sixteenth birthday.”

“Yes?”

“I would love to go camping with the guys at Devilfish Bay. Dad, you and Mr. Petersen could either drop us off, or you could come, too, just camp in a different spot?” Rogan’s request petered out at the end. “I don’t mean we don’t want you guys around…”

His dad laughed. “You’re on a roll today. No, really, I understand wanting to do your own thing. I don’t see why not.” He looked over at Elise, his eyebrows raised.

“Fine with me, as long as we can celebrate as a family with cake and your request for dinner like we always do.”

“Absolutely, Mom. I think you know what I’m going to ask you to make?”

“Well, seeing as how it’s the same ‘most every year, I’m going to take a wild guess and say barbecue venison?”

“You got it.” Rogan’s mouth started watering, just thinking about it. When he was at Survival School last fall, hungry after eating a diet of limpets and rice, that was what his stomach dreamed of.

“I think we can do that.” His mother had been the one to create the recipe, and it was one of his favorites.

Rogan changed the subject. “Dad, are we still going shooting today?”

“Yes. Let’s go after lunch. I have a few things I need to do this morning.”

“Do you have homework that needs to be finished?” His mother helped keep him on track.

“Can I go?” Lainey had bounced down the stairs and heard her dad’s plan.

“I think that would be okay if your mom doesn’t need you.”

“Of course, I need you.” Elise snagged her oldest daughter in a hug. “But, I think that’s fine if you go.”

“Yay! Can I take my .22? Are you going to take those rubber orange things we can shoot? I even know where my ear guards and safety glasses are, because I put them in a special place like you told me to, Dad.” Lainey was famous for her hyper-talking, and she prattled on as she headed back upstairs.

Elise smiled after her. “Peg and I are making some sourdough bread this afternoon.”

Rogan and his dad both said, “Yum,” at the same time and Rogan’s mouth was watering again in anticipation.

After lunch, they loaded up their pistols, rifles, and ammunition and hopped in their older model 4Runner. Rogan racked the seat forward so Lainey could climb into the back. Sitka bounced up and down on her front paws.

“Sorry, girl. You don’t get to go this time.” Rogan swore he saw disappointment in the husky’s eyes. She seemed to understand and resign herself to her fate, sitting on her haunches, yawning noisily, then whining.

They drove through town, then followed the dirt road that continued north. The vegetation bordering the roadway was so thick in most places that it was a veritable jungle. Here and there, it opened up on a lake or a clearing, or a rock pit, which was where they were headed. Rogan was telling his dad more about the Devilfish Bay story when a black shape at the side of the road moved.

“Lainey! A bear.” Rogan knew she’d want to see it.

“Too bad you don’t have your camera, Rogue.” Lainey often went on photography expeditions with her brother and dad.

Jim slowed down. The bear apparently wasn’t in a hurry to cross the road. It ambled along with its pigeon-toed gait, head swinging back and forth. Its pelt was spring-awakened shiny and glistening. The black bear stopped and lifted its nose, sniffing the air. It looked straight at them with its beady black eyes. Rogan knew some people were under the impression that bears have bad eyesight, but he knew from a report he had researched and written, that zoologists thought the animals could see about as well as humans.

“Now we know the bears are out,” Mr. Chaffey commented. He was referring to their emergence after a winter hibernation.

The bruin walked into the trees and bushes on the opposite side of the road and promptly disappeared.

Half an hour later, they pulled into their favorite rock pit where they went for target practice. Rogan was glad no one had beaten them to it. In fact, they hadn’t seen a single vehicle on the way there. The pit looked like it had been hollowed out by a giant backhoe. The walls rose a good forty feet on three sides, with large black boulders stacked and jagged. The floor of the clearing had some smaller rocks with grass growing amongst them. Straight ahead was a rockslide with smaller stones and a dirt pile. This was their backstop. Rogan knew about finding a safe backstop because they needed something to stop the bullets. He also knew that bullets could ricochet off of rocks and scream around like dangerous missiles, hitting who knows what.

They had brought a few different things to use as targets. Lainey used her Chipmunk .22 rifle to shoot at self-healing targets that were molded into various shapes. They were made of a polymer construction, and the Chaffeys just laid them in the dirt at about twenty yards’ distance. Lainey whooped with the satisfaction of her success when she hit one and it danced up like a kernel of popcorn on a hot, oiled griddle.

“Good job, Lane. Hit another one,” Rogan...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.2.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-8597-9 / 9798350985979