John Horne

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Welcome! For many years I've enjoyed spending time with a few characters, and over those years a story grew up around them. Over the coming weeks and months, we'll see if you enjoy spending time with them as well. A new chapter will likely be posted each week, so feel free to stop by regularly.

If you'd like to start at the beginning of the book, you'll find all the chapters listed in order on the main page for Another Way Home.



V. Terry

September 10th, 2007 · Another Way Home · 2 Comments

Garyth, Steven and Terry turned off the road and set up a backstop of branches against a tree trunk. Garyth knew he had only a little instruction with a sling from his father and had worked out his own style for best accuracy. He also recalled how impatient he had been when he taught his sisters. Steven would be a better teacher since the skill had been taught to him.

With the benefit of her two instructors Terry mastered the form in less than an hour and only required repetition to hone her control. As she practiced she became more talkative. She explained how she hunted with a sling and had worked hard to keep up with the local boys. Over time, and without realizing it, Terry had become much more skilled than they were, and she was eventually excluded from their company. She seemed unaware that having grown up to be a pretty young woman may have had something to do with the local boys’ shyness. [Read more →]

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IV. The Contest

September 3rd, 2007 · Another Way Home · 1 Comment

The commons presented Garyth with a much busier scene than when he had left Hinton earlier. Wagons and tables half covered the grassy area. More people were milling about than Garyth had ever before seen at one time. Hinton sat on a stool beside his wagon. He had rigged the wagon cover on poles to provide some shade and shelter. An assortment of tools and utensils hung from a frame erected in the wagon and a table displayed jars of spices. Garyth had not seen the wagon contents before and was astonished at the glitter of shiny pots, pans, plates, and cups. Hinton greeted Garyth and welcomed Bull affectionately. [Read more →]

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III: Smyth’s History Book

August 27th, 2007 · Another Way Home · 2 Comments

“Yes, he is Carlten’s son all right,” Smyth said. “I did not know Carlten well. Saw him often but can’t say we were friends. But I knew Meredith when she was a young girl. I know not what she may look like now, but her younger self is in that boy. Her father, an impressive, well-read man, was the magistrate in Lowell. She knew her letters before she was eight years old. Carlten grew up on his family’s farm, a day’s walk east of the village. He would come in with his family on market days. He and Merry became friends as children and I am certain that he learned some reading from her just so he could spend time with her. I finished my apprentice­ship and left to take up a post in Sothbury when Merry was about thirteen years. Carlten was probably two years older, but I can’t say for sure. That was five years before the Sindal occupation of Riverhaven. I remember that her father and mother liked the lad, felt he was honest and hardworking. His family was not rich, but they owned their land and were never hungry.” He paused for a moment, then asked Hinton, “You say the boy knows nothing of the invasion or his father’s part in it?” [Read more →]

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II: Hinton

August 20th, 2007 · Another Way Home · 5 Comments

Several wagons departing Woodton after Garyth soon passed, leaving him in total possession of the road. The day was fair, with bright sunshine and a few drifting clouds. As he walked, he began to notice the footprints of a large, heavy animal mingled with the wagon tracks and prints of hooves and boots. Meron had assured him that bears had been driven into the deep fastness of the forest away from the settled country, but for the size of the prints, he could imagine no other animal. As noon approached, Garyth caught sight of a man walking beside a wagon in the distance. As he got closer to the wagon, a huge dog, which had been walking in front of the horse, trotted back and fell in behind the man, occasionally glancing back at Garyth. The dog was far larger than any he had ever seen. Garyth moved to the side of the road to pass the group. As he overtook the wagon, the man gave him a cheery greeting. [Read more →]

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I: The Journey Begins

August 13th, 2007 · Another Way Home · No Comments

Garyth was suddenly torn from a pleasant dream landscape of his mind’s choosing to the cold reality of predawn darkness. The sky was just beginning to lighten but the forest around him was still utterly black. He listened intently, knowing that some sound had awakened him. Fully alert but completely still, he reconstructed the clearing in his mind and probed it with his ears. The sky had become a shade lighter before the distant crowing of a rooster broke the silence once again. The familiar sound was both a comfort and a sorrow to him. It banished the thought of danger but turned his mind toward thoughts of home and all its friendly comforts. He was a little disappointed in himself for missing familiar things after being away only two weeks. He even missed the common­place irritations, like his sisters’ chatter at the breakfast table. Homesickness would have given way to self-pity if thoughts of breakfast had not reminded him that he was hungry. [Read more →]

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Prologue

July 30th, 2007 · Another Way Home · 3 Comments

The setting sun’s orange disk had just touched the sea horizon behind him when Captain Balshazzar Medmar gave the order to his helmsman to steer for a distant gap in the endless marshes that marked the river’s mouth. The ship’s mate, standing the regulation three paces from the captain’s right side, issued a rapid stream of commands and sailors sprang into the rigging to unfurl sails that caught the evening sea breeze. The commotion brought a uniformed figure up the companionway stairs to join Captain Medmar on the afterdeck. [Read more →]

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